NFL players made the wrong choice by protesting during the National Anthem on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
Before this weekend, this was a non-issue for me. Frankly, Colin Kaepernick's protest really made no difference to me. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and to express that opinion, even NFL players. If he wants to sit, kneel, do whatever else he wants, I don't care. Same for any player. I am not here to dispute the merits of “Black Lives Matter” or any other political movement. I am not here to say people aren’t entitled to express their opinions.
But September 11th is the wrong day to do it. Anyone who did it should be ashamed of themselves. I don't care what Kaep does on September 12th, but 9/11? Sorry, it's wrong.
Most of the league did the right thing. The Seahawks, as reported by Stephen Cohen of the Seattle Post Intelligence, decided to put aside kneeling and linked arms in a show of unity. But, we had some dissent.
We had Marcus Peters of Kansas City, who decided that 9/11 was the day to raise his fist in the symbol of “black power”, as reported by CBS News.
And he wasn't the only one. Multiple players on the Miami Dolphins, including Arian Foster and Kenny Stills decided to kneel during the anthem, as seen here on FOX Sports.
Similar protests occurred by Titans' players. As a fan of the NFL, and admittedly a life-long New Yorker, I am ashamed.
Again, these players have the right to protest. They have the right to their opinion. Ironically, this great country that has this National Anthem is the place that allows these players to stage the protest of the National Anthem. These are people with a national and an international stage, and they have the right to use it.
The problem is on September 11th, the issue is bigger than individual's opinions. We all know, this was the biggest attack on American soil. This is not an issue of "Black Lives Matter". It is not an issue of how police treat the people they interact with. It has nothing to do with the racial inequities in this country.
September 11th is ONLY about horrific people flying planes into buildings and killing our citizens. Black ones, white ones, Jewish ones, Catholic ones, and everything else, it made no difference. This is the fifteenth anniversary of those people being gone. This is about the first responders that gave their lives to save others. This is about families that lost spouses, parents, cousins, and others that lost friends. THAT is what we remember on September 11th.
On a side note, the fact that Mike Tannenbaum is condoning this behavior on the Dolphins is an extra shock, as he was on staff with the Jets on September 11th, 2001 in the front office. Shame on you, Mr. T.
Those are the people that the National Anthem honors on September 11th. Protesting is a slap in the face of all of those people, and any player that did it should be ashamed. Bad choices to those involved, and an apology would be appropriate.