Anthem protests and the rule

I’ve heard from many in this conservative enclave we call home during the past week or so that the NFL has a rule that addresses player conduct and that it specifically details behavior to follow during the playing of the National Anthem.

This is a timely subject this week because isolated examples of protest during the pre-game festivities reached a boiling point this past Sunday, culminating in teams either kneeling in unison or staying off the playing field until the National Anthem had been played. This arose from a single player, Colin Kaepernick, kneeling during the National Anthem at the very start of the season, protesting police brutality against blacks.

The nation is as divided about this issue as any issue they have faced and it breaks pretty dramatically across racial and political lines. Blacks support the player’s ‘right’ of free speech and whites don’t. Liberals support it, Trump supporters don’t, including the President himself. I heard several of my friends in the past week say they’re through watching NFL football because of this behavior and my friend and fellow columnist, Dick Trail, wrote a similar sentiment in his column on Tuesday.

The arguments are as predictable as the people making the arguments. Those against the protests contend that if people want to protest police violence against blacks, it’s’ fine to do that as long as they do it on their own time. In other words, it should not be done while at work representing their employers as the NFL players did last week. And then I started hearing about the rule the NFL has that specifically forbids this practice.

So I looked the rule up and, as many things are, it’s pretty convoluted. Rules prohibit such things as pass interference and false starts. So as stated, this is policy, not a rule. Here’s what it says:

“The National Anthem must be played prior to every National Football League game and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition.

It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for our flag and our country. Failure to be on the field for the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline such as fines, suspensions and/or the forfeiture of draft choices for violations of the above, including first offenses.

Well, it sure SOUNDS like a rule doesn’t it? I mean offending behaviors are specifically spelled out and there is even a list of penalties to be imposed at the end of the statement if these behaviors aren’t followed. So, is it a rule or not?

The answer is as confusing as some of our thinking today because the answer is technically yes but it’s not in the “NFL rulebook.” This language does not appear in the 2017 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League, it IS a part of the game operations manual, which is distributed to all 32 teams, according to NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy. McCarthy said that the policy has been in place for several years and was specifically quoted as saying this:

“It’s a policy, it’s not a rule. I think where people are getting confused is, rules like holding or defensive pass interference, that’s a rule. This is policy.”

Not a very well put together statement but I hope you get the idea.

McCarthy confirmed that the league will not assess penalties to players who either did not take the field for the anthem or who protested. In the publicly available 2017 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League, the word “anthem” is not mentioned.

So there you have it. This ‘policy’ is written in such a way that it can either be attacked as not being a rule by those opposed to it or supported as being a rule by those who favor it.

The whole issue over First Amendment rights in regards to free speech as an American citizen is a different discussion altogether!