NFL owners are clearly caught in a “dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t” situation regarding the anthem protests. The celebrity & chief Donald Trump has demanded the NFL punish players who don’t stand for the anthem, and as of week four; players are still kneeling & sitting.
Some fans have decided not to support the NFL or it’s sponsors as long as players are allowed to exercise their 1st amendment rights in protest, so of course owners are becoming concerned about the bottom line.
Not the issues the players are kneeling for, their bottom lines.
Lions owner Martha Ford has come up with a way to please both sides & in theory it’s not that bad an idea.
DE Cornelius Washington explains how ownership & the Lions players came to an understanding, via the Detroit Free Press:
“She just asked us not to take the knee and basically told us—not basically, she told us she would back and support financially as well as put her name on whatever issues that we wanted to try to attack,” Washington said. “But as far as the kneeling, she just I guess felt like there was better ways to get the point across. And at this point, people know what we’re kneeling for so now trying to take that next step in the plan of action to foster change is, that’s the next part and that’s the part she’s willing to get behind.”
While you can certainly be critical of the Ford family for essentially buying players’ silence, you can’t fault Martha Ford for trying to please her players, while avoiding losing sponsors & a huge segment of the NFL’s fanbase.
It’s not a shallow promise, and most importantly; will still impact communities of color in positive ways, which has always been the point of these protests/statements.
Perhaps, the most important part of this story is that Lions ownership are willing to come to the table and have a discussion…a real discussion about what can help address the issues Kap brought to light in the NFL forum last season.