Not the Glory Days of the NFL

This week football players in the NFL were again kneeling, raising fists, or otherwise acting badly while the national anthem was playing before their games. The people running the league had considered prohibiting  such  behavior before the season started but decided to back off.  This is more evidence against the notion that executives in the entertainment businesses care only about money and make their decisions solely  to maximize revenue.

It is usually not a good idea to spit in someone’s face before asking him to continue purchasing your product so you can remain  rich.  However that is what the NLF and the players  did and likely will keep doing. In the context of the tradition of playing the anthem at the beginning of sporting events, the players’  actions are obviously gestures of disrespect and for the country and contempt for most of the people in it.

Most of those who applaud  this stuff probably are not football fans, and most football fans probably  dislike it, many  to the point of stopping watching.  Yet those in charge in the  NFL continue to allow it. It could be the bosses worry more about offending the players than about driving their customers away. It could be the result of  a desire to fit in with and be approved by the leftist traditional media, including the sports media. It could be the usual corporate cowardice in the face of the demands of political correctness.  It could be that  people such as Goodell do not care any  more for America or most Americans than the hateful players  do.  Whatever it is, it is not a decision driven by  the bottom line.  That is what makes it interesting.

Anyway, fall is a nice season in most of the country, and there are plenty of pleasant ways for former fans of the NFL to spend an autumn Sunday afternoon.