-blogged by @theRealAlexisDanielle
Wednesday news broke that the NFL had finally found a way to prevent players from exercising their first amendment rights by kneeling in protest of police brutality. Seemingly everyone, has an opinion. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Donald Trump, for one, was mostly agreeable with the ruling brought down by league owners.
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“You have to stand proudly for the national anthem, or you shouldn’t be playing, you shouldn’t be there,” Trump said of players kneeling. “Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country. You have to stand proudly for the national anthem.”
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While Trump applauded the league’s decision, he did express issue with the players having the option of staying in the locker room.
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“I don’t think people should be staying in the locker rooms, but still I think it’s good.”
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Interestingly enough, Fox reports that the NFL’s decision to come down on the act of kneeling, is largely in response to owners being “f*cking terrified” of the President.
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“Our league is f—–g terrified of Trump. We’re scared of him,” an un-named source told Fox.
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Despite the reasoning for the new policy, the league definitely caused a few eyebrow raises. Especially considering the fact that the players were not consulted on the matter.
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Eagles DB Malcom Jenkins offered his thoughts on the move via Twitter.
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“What NFL owners did today was thwart the players’ constitutional rights to express themselves and use our platform to draw attention to social injustices like racial inequality in our country. Everyone loses when voices get stifled,” Jenkins wrote.
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Torrey Smith of the Carolina Panthers took issue with the subjective language the policy is based on.
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Appropriate respect for flag and anthem” implies that guys were being disrespectful towards it. Which is an opinion. Most people who believe that ignore the responses from the players and more importantly why men chose to protest,” Smith said.
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The Seahawks’ Doug Baldwin says he isn’t surprised by the decision.
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“I’m not surprised – the NFL cares about one thing and that’s the NFL – that’s the bottom line…I’m not surprised, I’m disappointed.”
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However while many players were disappointed in the decision, others had a different opinion.
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For the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott, he’s “glad” [the league] came to an agreement” and will “be out there standing.”
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