Fewer NFL players taking a knee for national anthem on Sunday

In a recent article from The New York Daily News, eight National Football League owners were identified as not only supporters of President Trump but high-dollar donors to him. He says he respects players’ right to protest but thinks it’s “disrespectful” not to stand during “The Star-Spangled Banner”. There was no shortage of emotion on both sides of the issue. In the days that followed the president issued a series of tweets reiterating his views and calling for a boycott of games by fans.

Wide receiver Stills was seen warming up in a ‘#IMWITHKAP’ t-shirt in a show of support for Colin Kaepernick, the first National Football League player who knelt past year over perceived racial injustice.

The theme may play well with Trump’s conservative base at a time when the Republican president is grappling with North Korea’s nuclear threats, a humanitarian crisis in hurricane-struck Puerto Rico and an investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and a healthcare struggle in Congress. “His protest was against racial inequality and police brutality; he would not “stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour” and would continue to protest until “[the American flag] represents what it’s supposed to represent”.

On Saturday night (Sept. 30), President Trump once again called for players to stand. If anything, it’s one of the most distinctly American things they can do; you’d be shot at point blank if you did this in Syria. As the controversy entered its second week, echoes of support came from the president’s fellow party leaders. While I think some have expressed themselves with more eloquence and diplomacy than others, all are attempting to communicate a message that matters. Heads of private enterprises have the right to run them as they see fit.

As Canadians and Americans, we grow up living in a “free world” where we are told that we can say and do whatever we want, as long as it is within the laws of our country. However, their actions were one of the most widely seen photos of the 1968 Games at that time, and they generated a large discussion and focus on African-American struggles.

The president’s assault on professional sports players didn’t end after calling for the removal of any football player who made a decision to exercise his right to peaceful protest.

The protests during the national anthem have divided fans in America’s most popular sport.

And Ahmad Nassar, president of the NFL Players Association’s marketing arm, believes those who protest realise they must do more than take a pre-game stance if they want to see social and political change enacted. I’ve got a daughter. You waving the patriotic flag, show me when you was on the front lines.

An Indianapolis Colt player kneels on the field on October 1, 2017, during warmups before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. Oakland Raiders Running back Marshawn Lynch was spotted wearing a shirt that said, “everybody vs. Trump”. On the other sideline, several members of the Miami Dolphins knelt during the national anthem. Amongst all the chaos, however, the protests and non-protests have created a dialogue throughout the United States, and according to many players, including Colin Kaepernick, that is the goal.

The Ravens seemed to seek a compromise solution Sunday, with their players taking a knee before the anthem.