Octopus Overlords

hepcat wrote:Trump hates it when his minorities get uppity.

RunningMn9 wrote:The Steelers player is a former US Army Ranger I believe. Shockingly, no one has any problem with him doing what he believes is right.

@realDonaldTrump wrote:Great solidarity for our National Anthem and for our Country. Standing with locked arms is good, kneeling is not acceptable. Bad ratings!

Team owner Richard Petty, who won a record-tying seven championships as a driver, said he would fire any employee that didn't stand for the anthem.

“Anybody that don’t stand up for that ought to be out of the country. Period,” Petty said. “If they don’t appreciate where they’re at … what got them where they’re at? The United States.”

DJT wrote:Standing with locked arms is good, kneeling is not acceptable.

Smoove_B wrote:Football? Please. Real 'mericans support NASCAR - and I imagine Trump will be endorsing them soon enough.

Team owner Richard Petty, who won a record-tying seven championships as a driver, said he would fire any employee that didn't stand for the anthem.

“Anybody that don’t stand up for that ought to be out of the country. Period,” Petty said. “If they don’t appreciate where they’re at … what got them where they’re at? The United States.”

GreenGoo wrote:That could be. Trying to keep up on all the details of each individual circumstances is challenging. It was my understanding that the Steelers didn't come out of their dressing Room until after the anthem had played.

RunningMn9 wrote:I guarantee you that Villanueva coming out for the anthem will cause absolutely zero issues in that locker room. They understand his background and the sense of duty he feels personally from his service.

msteelers wrote:

GreenGoo wrote:That could be. Trying to keep up on all the details of each individual circumstances is challenging. It was my understanding that the Steelers didn't come out of their dressing Room until after the anthem had played.

The Steelers held a players only meeting Saturday night to vote on what to do. The vote was split between standing on the sidelines with arms locked or standing in the tunnel out of sight. Villanueva was at the meeting and spoke to the team. There was discussion about having him exempt from whatever the team decided to do, given his history.

The team narrowly voted to stand in the tunnel. They told Tomlin, who called Goodell to let him know.

Obviously Villanueva stood just outside the tunnel. Pictures show the rest of the team right behind him at the edge of the tunnel. As soon as the anthem was over they jogged out to the field as a team.

Villanueva avoided the locker room after the game when the media was in there. I would love to hear his thoughts on the team's decision. He has previously said he supported Kaepernick's message, but disagreed with his actions. I have to think he at least supported his teammates decision, even if he didn't agree with it. Otherwise he would have been on the sidelines with the coaches, and not off in the corner near his teammates.

YellowKing wrote:Welcome to America, where you're free to believe whatever you want as long as it aligns with straight white Christian values.

Zaxxon wrote:Speaking of team unity, the Broncos apparently (per the Twitters...) were blasting a song called Fuck Donald Trump before coming out of the locker room.

Alejandro Villanueva's emergence from the Soldier Field tunnel during Sunday's national anthem surprised many members of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a source told ESPN.

Villanueva, a former Army Ranger who served terms in Afghanistan, was the lone Steeler to appear despite an expectation from Saturday's players-only meeting that the entire team would remain in the locker room, the source said.

The starting left tackle was a key figure in the team's protest planning because of his background. Players wanted to accommodate Villanueva, who expressed during their 30-minute session that he didn't want to be singled out, the source said. Moving the protest off the field entirely was a way to keep solidarity without isolating an individual.

"That's where the confusion came in," the source of the anthem sequence.

...

Teammates widely respect Villanueva for serving the country, and they made that clear Sunday.

"Al is a unique circumstance, what he's been through, some of the things he's talked about before," guard David DeCastro said of Villanueva's decision Sunday.

"I've got a lot of respect for Al. I wish there was a different way to do this thing. We've got some people who look at the national anthem as patriotism, soldiers, all the stuff that it means, and obviously, people are upset, and I understand that. I just wish both sides understand that they want the right thing, but doing it through the national anthem, I wish there was a different way."

GreenGoo wrote:I predict the aclu or someone similar will file a free speech lawsuit this week. I hope they win.

Remus West wrote:On a side note, Kapernick lost all credibility to me when he admitted he did not even vote.

YellowKing wrote:It's just another example of Trump dividing people. That's what he does.

Remus West wrote:

GreenGoo wrote:I predict the aclu or someone similar will file a free speech lawsuit this week. I hope they win.

Only if there is action taken. Idiot in Chief is allowed to express his stupid racist views as much as anyone else is allowed to express their views. Until some person or organization acts on his words there is nothing to sue for.

stessier wrote:There is a sports bar here that decided today to no longer show NFL games until "the players stop disrespecting the flag and our country." Should make it a lot easier to get into on Sundays.

msteelers wrote:

Remus West wrote:On a side note, Kapernick lost all credibility to me when he admitted he did not even vote.

I agree with this. I lost respect for Kaepernick because he didn't vote.

stessier wrote:There is a sports bar here that decided today to no longer show NFL games until "the players stop disrespecting the flag and our country." Should make it a lot easier to get into on Sundays.

Isgrimnur wrote:

stessier wrote:There is a sports bar here that decided today to no longer show NFL games until "the players stop disrespecting the flag and our country." Should make it a lot easier to get into on Sundays.

If you want to support that kind of behavior. They have every right to to make that decision. And I'm sure their customers will be more than willing to let them know if the market supports them in it.

YellowKing wrote:It's just another example of Trump dividing people. That's what he does. He is very good at pitting tribe against tribe. Doesn't matter if it's Democrats vs Republican, white vs black, or fans vs players. Forget his lying, his narcissism, his incompetence - a complete inability to unite - in fact an active drive to divide Americans - is one of the most reprehensible characteristics a President could possibly have.

GreenGoo wrote:The entire NFL took him seriously enough to specifically defy him.

Remus West wrote:

GreenGoo wrote:The entire NFL took him seriously enough to specifically defy him.

Not the Bengals.

GreenGoo wrote:

msteelers wrote:

Remus West wrote:On a side note, Kapernick lost all credibility to me when he admitted he did not even vote.

I agree with this. I lost respect for Kaepernick because he didn't vote.

If he feels that neither party has his best interests in mind, why on earth would he think voting was a way to effect meaningful change? I mean, WE have had conversations where the difference between parties is blurred until you can't tell the difference.

Is volunteering twice a week at a soup kitchen/homeless shelter a better or worse way to impact social change than pulling a lever? When you have a national audience, you don't think addressing that audience would have enormously more impact than anonymously writing someone's name down? If he voted and kept his mouth shut, would we even know who he is or what he thinks? Would the Drumpf have decided to criticize his voting habits? Would the entire NFL have defied Drumpf because of a lever that was pulled?

I've never heard such an asinine reason for dismissing a person out of hand.

Sure, yes, I completely agree that he should vote. Spoil your ballot at a minimum. But the idea that what he says is less than meaningless because he doesn't participate in the election process is bunk. If you haven't noticed, the election process seems to be experiencing some challenges that aren't going to be addressed with a larger turnout.

"Mr. Kushner uses his White House email address to conduct White House business," Lowell said in a statement. "Fewer than a hundred emails from January through August were either sent to or returned by Mr. Kushner to colleagues in the White House from his personal email account."