The National Football League’s anthem policy goes down as another flop by the leadership of Commissioner Roger Goodell.
The pressure to do something was high as advertisers and ticket holders and fans were starting to get a little tired of the attention the kneeling during the anthem was getting.
Plus, the president tightened the screws even more with tweets and speeches mentioning the NFL’s player protests being disrespectful to the flag and the country.
The policy forces players to stand. Although, they left the loophole that players don’t have to participate and can stay in the locker room.
Whether that will help makes no difference. Week one of the regular season, seeing a player come out after the anthem will lead to the same amount of attention as the guys kneeling.
Fines will be handed out if anybody kneels, but the fines will be a team fine, not individual players.
So we’ll watch as players are again angry the owners don’t view this as a partnership. No consultation was made with the players union.
The league likely kicked the hornets’ nest rather than finding a solution. But under Roger Goodell, should we be surprised?