Pittsburgh Steelers

[rich76]

Bleah to all of you...players, coaches, owners...EXCEPT a real man/patriot Alejandro Villanueva.

If you morons, who disrespect the flag and those who fought for it, think that these juvenile tantrums will change anything.....hrmph. All it will do is decrease fans and viewership.

Special note to Mike Tomlin.......you pathetic douchebag. Give Mr Villanueva crap about going out to HONOR our flag instead of staying in the locker room in solidarity with a bunch of moron millionaires, you, too, will find out how the free enterprise system works. Already......Al's jersey is the BEST SELLING jersey in America right now.

Yes, the football field is a battlefield....but not even close to a REAL battlefield. Grow up, all of you, and realize that America is the reason you ARE millionaires....and I challenge any of you jackasses to give me an example of how you're "oppressed".

The reality is....you do NOT have the right to protest unless your owner gives you that right. This is an employer/employee relationship and the employer makes the rules....period.

SO sick of this BS......hard to even watch a game anymore.

[yon Beast]

I understood it to be the anthem they find objectionable....and everyone keeps saying its the flag being disrespected....??

the wording in the anthem is less than modern age.

[rich76]

are you suggesting that a National Anthem should be changed?

For what reason?

Oh Canada has been sung since 1880....is that "modern age"?

[SiteWolf]

I think it's an excuse for anyone to blame words of the anthem that are never sung (any objectionable lyrics are in other stanzas) and some even say it's because the author was a slave owner, which again has little to do with the anthem that is sung.

A country's anthem is sung and its flag flown high at every medal ceremony in the Olympics. It has always been understood to be a sign of honor and patriotism. Americans of all colors have proudly followed that for many decades as Americans of all colors have fought for us to get and keep the freedoms we enjoy.

IMO they're not protesting the flag OR the anthem, they're utilizing this public 'protest' as if that will actually affect positive change when all it is actually doing is creating further divisions.

They claim it has started discussions. It has, but not about the actual issue they claim to want progress in.

[yon Beast]

i'm still confused how or why Kaepernik's name keeps popping up as the first. again, was my understanding he was protesting the anthem.
here are the verses that are not normally sung and what i thought was the root of all this hullabaloo.

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave![26]

side note:....canadian anthem revised in 1980...and currently under small revision to make the anthem gender-neutral by changing the words "thy sons" to "of us".

[rich76]

[rich76]

Beast....they claim they are NOT protesting the anthem OR the flag. They are protesting oppression. Really...............there are better ways to make their points.

As far as those additional versus....I can pretty much guarantee this:

1. I have never heard any of them sung or recited ever in my 68 years on this planet
2. 99% of the citizens of this country haven't either

[rich76]

as expected.......it starts. These guys are usually about the $$$$....when it hits more of them in the pocket, it will wither. Oh how I love the free market system

BIG star loses an endorsement:

http://www.dailywire.com/news/21534/...m_campaign=six

[yon Beast]

i love reading the comments

ie:

-Von Miller has every right to kneel during the national anthem.
-Phil Long Ford has every right to not want someone who kneels during the national anthem representing their brand.

[rich76]

lol.....you'll love these comments beast.....

https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2017..._campaig n=nl

[SiteWolf]

Didn't particularly like this one from a Lions DT

Akeem spence ✔ @AkeemSpence
Got some awful news from my father a contractor deny giving him a job on doing a house because of my peaceful protest #smh
12:49 PM - Sep 28, 2017
576 576 Replies 399 399 Retweets 546 546 likes

[yon Beast]

it appears i wasn't alone in being confused what its all about. somewhere ...the message they are trying to send is being mis-interpreted as disrespect.

The intent is not disrespect and doesn't come off as such (from way up here )

The way they are doing it is fine, imo....Tim Tebow??

Trump has made it an issue...likely to distract.

[rich76]

1. If they have a cause......be explicit and state your cause
2. It absolutely IS disrespectful.....pick another time to do it
3. Tim Tebow did not ever disrespect the flag or the anthem....he was thankful to his maker when it was appropriate
4. What do you perceive Trump is trying to distract from?

The falling TV ratings and game attendance and the boos they are receiving from those that do attend tell me a completely different story. The majority of America is displeased with their nonsense. Get into your communities and schools and talk to children about accountability and choices. All they are doing with this BS is pissing off millions of people.....and giving the left another bandwagon to ride.

[yon Beast]

i'll agree...the platform they are using is doing more harm than good

[SiteWolf]

Trump has no business trying to tell private companies how to handle their employees. IMO he's providing more division by making his comments.

However, here is one of Kaepernick's original quotes when he began his protest:
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color"

There's been ambiguity about what the expected result of these 'protests' are, but they largely started by following that mindset.
I'm not quite sure what is meant by separating black people from other people of color, however.