i haven’t commented much on the NFL protests. But let’s look at it from an outside perspective.
the players in the NFL are professional athletes. Let’s look at the professional emphasis for a minute.
If I went to work Monday morning at an assembly plant and took a knee in protest at my machine center or press, my employment would be in jeopardy.
If the shift leader was passing out assignments in the morning and I took a knee? And demanded my “right” to do so?
If an attorney took a knee in front of a judge to protest the judicial system? Or even worse if I am a defendant and when the bailiff calls for all or rise for the Honorable so and so. If I took a knee to protest the treatment of my race in the legal system?
When a player is suited up and on the field, he is at work. He is on somebody else’s clock, being paid to perform his job. Calling my employer a slave owner Is not going to help my future contracts. And is just an attempt to gain support for my actions by making it racist. Kaepernick is untouchable not because of his trip to South America complaining about America or his press conference wearing a “Che” shirt complaining about oppression. He is untouchable because no one wants to hire an employee that makes them look bad. The call for “letting Kaep play, he has a right to further his career” forget that they are not demanding a team let him play, but that a team pay him to play. If Kaep was going to play for free, many teams would let him play.
Now, let’s emphasis the athlete in the job description.
These players are high profile athletes. Many if not most have charities and causes the promote and raise money for. Peyton Manning has a lot of children’s charities that he fronts. Richard Sherman, Eli Manning, Andrew Luck, etc. have done many good and wonderful works for people and causes. They don’t do it on the field.
A professional athlete today has a media footprint that is huge compared to the athletes of just a few years ago. Press conferences, interviews, press statements, and a giant social media presence.
That’s where you make your protests.
That’s where you make your societal statements. And advocate for your cause.
if your doing it on national broadcasts, on your employers time, in order to raise the profile and get more coverage then I would suspect it is more about you and your marketing brand and less about your issue.