After an eye-opening 2017 season, which caused NFL attendance and TV rating dropped as Trump and other critic’s scrutinized on-field protest by many of the league players. NFL commissioner Roger Goodall announced this week that the league has a new policy, “this season, all league and team personnel shall stand and show respect for the flag and the anthem. Personnel who choose not to stand for the anthem may stay in the locker room until after the anthem has been performed”.
When Trump was asked about the new policy he says, “I think the people pushed it forward. This was not me. I brought it out. I think the people pushed it forward. This country’s very smart. We have very smart people,” the president said. “And, you know, that’s something ideally could have been taken care of when it first started. It would have been a lot easier. But if they did that, they’re doing the right thing.”
The new policy stem from all of the opinion’s after former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, shocked the world when he decided to Neil for the national anthem before a preseason game and then before regular-season games throughout the 2016 season.
The protest let some to boycott watching NFL games last season and it appeared to have played a part in NFL’s ratings. Television viewership fell 9.7% across all networks last season, according to Nielsen data. An average NFL game was watch by 1.6 million fewer people compared to last year, declining overall from 16.5 million $14.9 million, ESPN reported.
Although their ratings have dropped, the NFL still signed a $1.5 billion deal with Verizon to stream games across the wireless carriers platform, according to Recode. The NFL also reached a five-year, $3 billion to broadcast Thursday night Football on Fox sports, according to Reuters.
The problem with this entire policy is that it effects the 70 percent of football players that are African American feeling the injustice in this country. Colin Kaepernick and other players have said they are not protesting the anthem or the military; they are using the anthem to bring attention to racial injustice and the issue of police abuse of black and brown Americans. Below is the video of Sterling Brown being arrested for a parking violation brings up Kaepernick’s point.
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