NFL Muzzles Jerry Jones After His Pro-Anthem Comments
Nobody will ever confuse the NFL with some sort of moral bastion filled with nothing but upstanding citizenry.
Sure, there are some genuinely good people, such as David Johnson and Drew Brees. But there are also people like Michael Bennett, who blatantly spread lies about the Las Vegas police and stands accused of assaulting an elderly person; and Jameis Winston, who may very well be the worst person in the NFL.
That being said, the NFL has never sought to quiet the league’s most outspoken players. Whether it’s players like Malcolm Jenkins speaking out for criminal justice reform or Benjamin Watson speaking out on his strong pro-life beliefs, the league has generally let its players say whatever they want, whenever they want.
The refusal to quiet NFL players has been one of the primary contributors to the league’s ongoing public relation woes with fans, and even with President Donald Trump.
When Colin Kaepernick first began kneeling for the national anthem, wearing socks depicting cops as pigs and accusing America of being a racist cesspool, the league could and should have nipped the issue in the bud.
Alas, it didn’t. Now the league has had to deal with a viewership decline that doesn’t show any signs of slowing.
So one would think that when a league owner comes out in staunch support of the player he employes standing for the national anthem, the league would celebrate it.
One would think wrong.
When Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones came out and said that his players would “stand for the anthem, toe on the line,” it should’ve drawn rave reviews from the league front office. In fact, Jones’ comments were the first time in a long time, if ever, that Trump came out and offered any sort of praise for the NFL.
Way to go Jerry. This is what the league should do! https://t.co/yEP1jK57xi
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2018
Of course, there was the natural pushback from players who felt that Jones was being a tyrant. But that’s not exactly a surprise.
What is a surprise is the pushback Jones received from Commissioner Roger Goodell and the rest of the NFL front office. For the apparent crime of expecting his players to stand at attention for the national anthem, the league decided to muzzle Jones, despite never citing a similar expectation from its players.
Jones informed several local television stations and reporters that, at the behest of the NFL, he would no longer be discussing the national anthem in any capacity, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The muzzling of Jones falls in line with comments Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown said when he claimed that he wasn’t allowed to speak about the national anthem by rule of the league front office.
It’s very fair to wonder why exactly the league is choosing to silence owners and not the players. There really isn’t an upside for them. Fans upset with the treatment of players aren’t going to flock back to the league just because owners can’t discuss it. And fans upset with the general disrespect displayed toward the national anthem are only going to get more upset.
Oh, wait. This is the bumbling Roger Goodell regime. It makes perfect sense.
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