The NFL owners have decided to impose fines on any team in which players kneel on the field or the sidelines during the National Anthem:
https://twitter.com/AP/status/999331468877983744Here’s more:
NFL owners have approved a new policy aimed at addressing the firestorm over national anthem protests, permitting players to stay in the locker room during the “The Star-Spangled Banner” but requiring them to stand if they come to the field.
The decision was announced Wednesday by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during the league’s spring meeting in Atlanta.
In a sign that players were not part of the discussions, any violations of the policy would result in fines against the team — not the players. The NFL Players Association said it will challenge any part of the new policy that violates the collective bargaining agreement.
The owners spent several hours addressing the contentious issue — which has reached all the way to the White House.
Here’s the statement by Roger Goodell (the bottom is the actual policy):
The NFL has struggled with this issue since Kaepernick began protesting during the National Anthem a couple of years ago. And I think they’ve been damaged by it, as some have boycotted watching games over the issue. I can totally understand why the owners have made this decision to protect the NFL. And I’m very happy about it.
I’m sure Trump is going to be very happy about this too. After all, we’ll never forget how he jumped in the middle of it last year and made it worse, leading more and more players to kneel in protests. It finally simmered off after a few weeks but the damage was done.
Now that these new rules are in place, teams can appropriately discipline players for National Anthem protests. And I’m sure Trump will likely take credit for this in an upcoming tweet later today or tomorrow.