Although the NFL was contemplating the idea of making it a rule to stand for the National Anthem, recent reports suggest that nothing of the sort will happen.
http://nypost.com/2017/10/18/nfl-owners-want-players-to-stand-for-the-national-anthem/NFL players can continue taking a knee during pre-game renditions of the national anthem, the league’s commissioner announced Wednesday.Team owners met in Manhattan this week, in part to discuss the controversial protests that have captured the president’s ire and ignited a national debate over free speech, but league honchos ultimately opted not to rule on the touchy subject.
“We’re trying to stay out of politics,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “What we’re looking to do is get people focused on football.”
Players kneel during the song to bring attention to institutional racism.
The league is working to bring their numbers “down to zero,” Goodell said.
The commissioner said last week that “everyone should stand for the national anthem” but stopped short of issuing a mandate, instead saying owners would huddle with players this week to hash out “an in-season platform” for players to make social-justice statements.The NFL Players Association union met with management in Manhattan yesterday for chats that Goodell described as “very productive.”
The groups did not discuss whether individual team owners should punish protesting players, according to Goodell.
President Trump, who waged war with the NFL on the issue last month, has said managers should fire “son of a bitch” players who kneel.
Trump has pressured Goodell to institute a rule change.
“They have a rule, you can’t dance in the end zone, you can’t wear pink socks, one guy’s mother had breast cancer and they wouldn’t let him, you can’t do anything! But you’re allowed to sit down for the national anthem,” he said at a fundraiser dinner, where he raised an estimated $5 million for the Republican Party.