Conservative political commentator and Tennessee Star political editor Steve Gill discussed the NFL’s contemplation of “an in-game penalty against teams whose players kneel in protest during the national anthem” on The Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville.
Gill pointed out the many questions swirling around the move in terms of how it could be implemented and even prevent players who want to stand for the National Anthem by standing if teams simply opt to remain in the locker room to avoid the situation and potential penalty entirely.
As Sports Illustrated reported, “On Tuesday, NFL owners put three hours aside for a privileged session to speak—amongst themselves and family members—about the most sensitive of topics.
One was how the league will handle players kneeling during the national anthem going forward. An idea being floated in the room goes like this: It would be up to the home team on whether both teams come out of the locker room for the anthem, and, should teams come out, 15-yard penalties could be assessed for kneeling.
The league is currently being sued by Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, with the two unsigned free agents alleging that NFL teams colluded to keep them unemployed. Kaepernick was the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem, to protest police brutality, starting a trend that swept across the league in 2016 and ’17.”
This is not the first time the owners have discussed the issue, which only serves to demonstrate how flummoxed are NFL owners over what one might think should be an easily answered question, should millionaire athletes stand to honor the American flag, or not?
The NFL addressed the anthem issue at its meetings in October and March, with plans to further discuss it at this meeting. The league also met with the Players Coalition in October, and agreed to a seven-year, $89 million social-justice partnership.
The short clip from The Gill Report can be heard below.
