Trumps Bullying Backfires - NFL To Take Up Protestors Cause

[applegrove]

By Rmuse at the Daily Kos

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/10/15/1707053/-Trump-s-Bullying-Backfires-NFL-To-Take-Up-Protestor-s-Cause

"SNIP.........

.

Instead of strictly obeying the fascist Trump, the NFL has decided that it will focus on how best to use its powerful forum to do exactly what the protestors are taking a knee for; bring national attention to the racial and social injustices roiling American society.

According to Reuters, NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said the League’s commissioner Roger Goodell:

“Has a plan that he is going to present to owners about how to use our platform to both raise awareness and make progress on issues of social justice and equality in this country.”

Mr. Lockhart said that instead of “throwing the sons-of-bitches” off the field, or “forcing” mostly African American athletes to give up their 1st Amendment rights like Trump demanded, the League is joining the players’ crusading to make social change. He said there will be discussions focusing on using the NFL players and clubs “broad platforms” to actually make progress on “issues of equality, social justice, and criminal justice reform.” Lockhart said:

“These are issues that are important to our clubs, issues that are important to our players, issues that are important to the communities in which we play. That’s what we are discussing. So for everyone who has speculated over the last few days that somehow there is a proposal that is set for a vote on Tuesday or Wednesday you are speculating. Those who are reporting it as fact are reporting it incorrectly.”


..........SNIP"

[Gothmog]

1. Good for the NFL

[Dulcinea]

40. Lifelong football fan here.

Last I checked, professional football players have the same First Amendment rights as all other Americans. Goodell isn't stupid. He knows he won't win this battle. Same with the NFL owners.

[calimary]

47. Not a football fan but I greatly appreciate the NFL for this.

About time!!!

[lagomorph777]

48. Not a fan either, but it would be great if they find a good way to support justice.

In fact, if presented in a clear, factual way that can't be spun by President Turd as "disrespecting the troops," it will make all the more clear the racist motives of Turd and his minions.

[madamesilverspurs]

2. Oooo, can't be pretty in his vicinity when he hears this!

That's gonna be one scarlet tantrum. Everybody DUCK!!!!


.

[Initech]

10. Trump's head exploding in 3... 2... 1...

[Scarsdale]

37. Orange, stringy stuff

everywhere!! No grey matter, since there are no brains in there. Good for the NFL. The players are heroes to many, many people young and old. Admired more than the orange mess in the WH. He is not so much "in the WH" as he is "on his golf courses"

[cilla4progress]

3. I want to believe so badly.

My heart is broken over all the hate and discord trump has ushered in.

If this is for real, NFL deserves major kudos.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

30. Here, here!!

[Kath2]

4. Right on. Good for them.

I'm not at all into sports but glad to see they are standing up to Trump.

[sharedvalues]

5. Goodell ONLY does things that make owners more money

What's the money angle here for the owners?
Are they trying to head off a full-scale kneel, in which all players do it?


Goodell and 75% of the billionaire owners absolutely do not give one whit about equality, social justice, OR prison reform. So what's the real reason they're doing this?


Many players, having grown up in real working class America, do care about those issues. Maybe the NFLPA is forcing Goodell's hand?

[JI7]

13. I think it's black players realizing the power they have in the game

[sharedvalues]

28. Yes agreed. Pretty amazing the players are driving this

The owners usually take a very aggressive stance against the players, in salary negotiations and in strikes and lockouts.

Maybe the owners realize that a unified stance with the players is the best way to resolve this situation. Very interesting if true. I certainly don't trust Goodell farther than I could throw him. That guy cares only about the dollars he is paid by the owners.

[groundloop]

15. I believe they'd start losing fans if the NFL took the hardline approach King 45* wants

[MoonRiver]

36. He doesn't want to lose their best players.

At this point I don't care why, just want the Moron completely muzzled and humiliated.

[Scarsdale]

38. There is absolutely no way

tRump can be humiliated. His ego is WAY too large. In his tiny mind, he is king of the world now, doing anything he feels like doing. It would be great if he resigned, and barged out of the WH, back to tRump Tower, and his Russian debt collectors.

[MoonRiver]

39. Probably true, but this will send him into a tail spin, twitter wise.

He'll think HE has to humiliate the NFL, and keep the craziness going.

[Cosmocat]

41. Mostly agree, but ...

I literally have nothing good to say about Goodell, and you are spot on that he will do what will turn so much as one dollar more.

BUT, the league exists because of the talent, and that talent is primarily POC, and the league has changed A LOT over time:

I am a Steelers fan, and I have seen the evolution of the three coaches over 40+ years:

Point of reference, Lombardi days, it was the coaches way or the highway, 100 percent.

Noll days, he had full power, and was a relentless task master, but he looked in his way to speak to the players.

Cowher days - he was a half and half coach, a task master type but also a players coach, one of the first to start to break that way.

Tomlin - Even more of a players coach.

What you see now is that the successful coaches are half general over seers of the football operations and half modern day gurus who find a way to manage the group/motivate the individuals.

The league is business end of the day, but it is to the point where the players have a lot more influence or control, with a good portion of them making a LOT of $$$.

NFLPA itself has little influence over the league, it is perhaps the weakest of the major sports unions in terms of how much influence it wields, and is often criticized for giving in to much.

End of the day, we are going to have to be prepared to eat shit from sanctimonious cons because they can't afford the hit from the kneeling. BUT, they also can't afford to have the agitation from their talent if they just drop the hammer on that and don't find a way to give them another outlet.

It will be interesting to see what the "plan" is.

[sharedvalues]

6. Also Goodell takes zero action without owners' consent.

There are no proposals that Goodell presents to the owners. He clears every proposal with owners first.



There is a tiny tiny chance the Rooneys or the Maras or Green Bay really do care about equality in America and are pushing for this. But I'd give 10:1 odds against. More likely is an effort to get ahead of bad PR.

[pangaia]

16. That's my take until proven otherwise.

[oxbow]

7. You can never know the outcome in advance

Looks like some good could come out of all his grandstanding though. I'm sure he will try to take credit but to my eyes, this is more evidence of the country resisting the sleazeball's impulses.

[CakeGrrl]

8. Maybe lip service to bolster PR and keep revenue going

But I'll take any 'fuck you' to Trump's racist dictator directives.

The owners and NFL may not care about achieving social justice as much as they do about preserving their bottom line, but they know that Trump's red meat to his white supremacist base doesn't translate to an operating model that makes any sense when the majority of your players are black.

[TeamPooka]

24. Even a halfhearted PR effort by the NFL could do a lot.

[brer cat]

9. I hope he is sincere and has the support of the owners.

It is important that institutions face the problems head on and become part of the solution. I would love to see a big FU to trump, but it is far more important that they show respect for the players.

[monmouth4]

11. That lawsuit Kaepernick filed may have a lot to do with this. Give him a job for gawd's sake. n/t

[former9thward]

22. Except he didn't file a lawsuit.

He filed a complaint with his union.

[monmouth4]

33. I should have said the threat of:...

"Colin Kaepernick to file lawsuit against NFL owners over collusion ...
https://www.theguardian.com › Sports › Colin Kaepernick
15 hours ago - Colin Kaepernick, who many believe has been blackballed by the NFL, is reportedly filing a lawsuit against the league's owners."

[mr_lebowski]

54. I'm keen to know what he's 'requesting' or threatening to ...

I've always been an outspoken proponent of Kaep on the grounds that he's taken his stand and accepted the consequences 'like a man' (in the colloquial sense, not the gender-specific sense) ... but businesses DO have 'the right' to limit their employee's 'free speech', we all live under that 'yolk' if you will. Other leagues do outright ban 'Player Protests' ... and I'm not saying it's 'right' or 'I agree' but it is 'their business'. So, they can do that.

I hope that Kaepernicks case can in no legitimate way be spun as 'whining' or worse, a 'money grab'. That would be bad. For me, at least. Wouldn't be a fan of that sort of thing. He's been truly admirable so far, I hope he stays that way.

[oasis]

12. Trump can go pound sand.

[leanforward]

14. Good for the NFL

I was considering a personal boycott of football. Similar to faux news. The faux channel is off in this house.

I go back to the picture I saw recently, of a gentleman (veteran) kneeling AND holding a Tri-fold Flag. For a passing presidential motorcade. I would do it.

To me, they are showing respect, yet honor the country and those that have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Why no mention of the Special Forces in Niger?

Finally, I am opposed to pRezident dRumpf and his paruskie business model. Anything to do with the paruskies in the office is TREASON.

He has yet to impose sanctions as passed by the Senate and the House.

[quakerboy]

20. There are a lot of folks boycotting the NFL

it seems a cause worth joining.

Cause for all the talk.. Kappernick is still not signed, and various owners are still prohibiting their players from kneeling.

Worth following Shawn King on facebook, if you go there.

[krispos42]

26. I was in Wallingford, CT over the weekend for a wedding

In the downtown there was a bar with a big sign in the window (filled the entire pane) that said (paraphrasing) "Due the to the disrespect of the NFL to America* we will not be showing any football games".


*or "our flag", I forget which.

My eyes rolled so hard I was looking at my frontal lobe for a second.

[quakerboy]

31. Yeah. They are copy catting

And trying to claim credit for the ratings hit.

[pangaia]

17. I will be cautiously optimistic, but I will believe it when I see it.

Remember, these are bidness fellers, and mostly right-wingers as far as I can tell.

[-_O_-]

18. What I want to hear...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please join us in taking a knee for the national anthem"
While a video of Varied injustices plays on the jumbo-tron.
Never gonna happen, but I can dream.

[Duppers]

21. I share your dream.

[safeinOhio]

19. Will not mean much to me,

unless they say it is a protest against cops shooting unarmed Black Men. That's what not being said loud enough.

[tavernier]

23. He has shifted his attention to Christmas

and the appalling lack of it. Never mind that in September they were already stocking the shelves in some stores.

[Chipper Chat]

25. Dollar General has half its shelves in red and green

Cheap stuff made in China.

[andym]

27. Announcer: And now a moment of silence to ponder the racial injustice that permeates our society.

Please bow your heads. Something like this would really do wonders, pregame-- perhaps just before the anthem.

[ATL Ebony]

29. Whoop! There it is

Dolt45 should have stayed out of giving the NFL directives on how to handle a their business. That's not his job! Try doing your f'ng job for ALL Americans and you won't have time for this BS. Waiting to see him turn a deeper shade of orange after lying last week that Goodell took his advice. Perhaps since he's failing so much he was looking for a fight he thought he could easily win -- well, oops, failed again.

[jcmaine72]

32. Good for the NFL. Trump and his deplorables have won nothing but the Stupidbowl.....as always.

I don't like football or the brutal culture that surrounds it, but I'm glad the NFL is standing firm on this. They have chosen the only morally correct side on this issue and will win in the end.

Trust me, their long term profits will not suffer. Sooner rather than later, the deplorables who have stopped watching will come crawling back on their scabby knees. Does anyone seriously believe that these people will suddenly take up reading and start going around quoting Kierkegaard? No, they could no more give up watching their favorite violent, mind-numbing, concussion-inducing pastime then they could give up swilling cheap beer and being bigoted, hate-filled assholes at heart.

[waltben]

34. It's just making lemon aid out of lemons

IF the owners go along (and that's a big "IF&quot , Goodel is not doing this out of all of a sudden developing a moral compass. He's got falling revenue, falling viewers and followers, and bad press to worry about - and he's actually a smart businessman.

[moda253]

45. Many owners backed the players on day 1

And they have no choice but to even if they're support isn't sincere.

No players, no team, no money.

[Madam45for2923]

35. Loving this turn of events!

[DinahMoeHum]

42. "Stick to Sports" is code for: STFU and entertain us

[BainsBane]

43. Ive heard this is an effort

to get the players to stand during the anthem, and that they are trying to buy them off. That according to a discussion on Morning Joy.

[louis-t]

44. Kellyass will spin this as:

"He planned it that way."

[aeromanKC]

46. America is Already Great!!

This exemplifies why America is already great. This is our Constitution working and the freedom that our flag symbolizes in operation!! One protests in a Constitutionally-protected way to get an issue heard and then both sides try to work together to create a more perfect union!!

[MineralMan]

49. The NFL is more than aware that those players are what

earn all their money. A walkout of black players would end the season immediately. They know what butters their bread.

[yallerdawg]

50. Empty stadiums?

Cleveland 0-6.

San Francisco 0-6.

New York Giants 1-5.

Who voted for the genius behind "Trump Steak?"

[Thomas Hurt]

51. Meh, this is way to take it off the field and add it to the causes that the NFL and players

already support. Sort of de-fangs both sides.

[Alice11111]

53. I fear that too

[NastyRiffraff]

52. Incoming Tweets 3...2...1

[Demoiselle]

55. Really good news! Thanks.