Star Spangle Banter!

Has Barnes ‘n Noble’s stock gone up? Are piano lessons being sought after at an astronomical rate? Has Fort McHenry received an absorbent amount of attendance? The reason I ask these questions is because for some reason the National Anthem has become so idolized that the NFL has now enacted a National Anthem Policy.

The policy is relatively broad and straight forward, which for those who have delved into any policy, law, or rule, realize that a broad law/rule tends to be challenged regularly and exceptions are enacted to narrow its scope. The Policy states, according to Sport’s Illustrated’s Albert Breer, that “the league’s new policy will allow players to choose whether or not they come out for the anthem, but require them to stand for it if they’re on the field when it plays.”

So there are three issues that need to be discussed with this rule:

1.       How the new policy was passed

2.       What’s the NFL’s reason for enacting such policy

3.       What parties are hurt by this policy.

Let’s start with the first issue of how this policy was enacted. The first reports indicated that the NFL’s owners voted on whether this policy should be legislated.  It was concluded that thirty-one of the thirty-two owners voted in favor of the policy, with the lone owner (the 49ers owner) abstaining from the vote. However, as reported by ESPN.com’s Seth Wickersham, the NFL did not actually conduct a vote, but rather polled the owners. From this poll they assumed that the owners would vote in favor of this policy.

So the NFL effectively decided to end an already dying protest by an authoritarian method – shutting down a peaceful demonstration by non-peaceful means. History has shown in America the consequences of such a strategy. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Selma March would not have been the same, nor would it have been as effective, if it was not for the government (i.e. the municipal police officers) using violent means to try and quash a peaceful protest.

What is more appalling is not the fact that the NFL lied by stating that new Anthem Policy was a vote made unanimously, but rather the fact that the NFL has not learned from its past lying.  This is the same league that only a few years ago botched handling the Ray Rice incident.  In that public relations embarrassment, the league was originally going to just hand Rice a two-game suspension, but then decided against it only once it felt the general public outcry toward the horrific elevator camera footage of the violence Rice inflicted upon his wife.  From that experience, the NFL should have learned it’s always best to “measure twice and cut once.” However, here in the flag issue the NFL handed down a broad policy, and wanted the general public to believe that every club was for it, but this was not true. This is exemplified by the Jets owner coming out and saying that he would not punish (i.e. pass down the fines that the club received) any player who violated this policy.

The other issue is the fact that the NFL did not discuss this new policy with the players, prior to it being announced. Now, legally, the NFL is a private corporate entity and therefore its employees are not provided with Constitutional protections – i.e. free speech. However, I would argue that NFL stadiums and owners who beg for their stadiums to be paid by local municipalities (taxpayers) are in fact a governmental entity and therefore subject to the Constitution. Regardless, the NFL, like any professional sports league, is unique in that its labor is extremely rare. In other businesses a policy like this anthem policy would be easily enacted as the company’s labor is easily replaceable. So input from its labor is less needed as they are more likely to succumb to the demands and policies of the company’s owners for fear that they could be terminated and quickly replaced. However, the NFL is made up of extremely gifted and rare individuals who make the game what it is – entertaining. In turn, it is important for the NFL to work harmoniously with its players, because, if they have an unhappy workforce, the product on the field could suffer. The NFL failed in this respect and has strained its relationship with its players even further.

The NFL claims it enacted this policy, reported by Tadd Haislop of Sportingnews.com, out of “respect for the flag and anthem.” Anyone who believes that reasoning probably also believes that Donald Trump is the “least racist person ever!” The NFL created this rule because it thought it would boost its perception. For instance the NFL recently passed a new rule, reported by George Henry of the Chicago Tribune, “that says any player who initiates contact with his helmet is subject to ejection after an in-game video review that will be decided in New York.” This rule includes lineman. If the referees are to follow the letter of the law, then lineman will be ejected at a rapid pace. So the rule will not be enforced, but just used to give the average fan a “perception” that the NFL is trying to make the game safer.

The same principle of “perception” is used with the National Anthem Policy. The NFL believed this would make them look more patriotic, so fans would feel that the NFL is “All about America.” The NFL really is trying to mitigate any “bad” press (largely stemming from the President). What the NFL really did was pour gasoline onto a dying fire, enrage its players, and preach “patriotism” through authoritarian means of enforcement. The irony is everywhere.