Nick Sconzo
Professor Gruber
Paper 3
7 November 2017
NFL Protest
The National Football League dominates American television ratings. Professional
football games bring in the top ratings for almost all television stations. Non-sporting event
shows such as NFL postgame are also among the highest rated shows on television. The NFL’s
popularity in ratings has its positives and negatives. The negatives showed on August 14, 2016
when Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem before a preseason game versus the
Houston Texans. Kaepernick did something that was very questionable in the eyes of Americans,
and it showed in the backlash. The popularity of the NFL is the reason a year later, that kneeling
for the national anthem is the most widely talked about topic. When Kaepernick took a knee
during the anthem, all of America, and most of the world saw him. Kaepernick says he took a
knee to take a protest “… for the people being oppressed.” When someone is “oppressed”, the
authority of power is being used against them in a burdensome, cruel, and unjust manner. A main
topic of people being oppressed in America is police brutality against African Americans. Just
weeks after Kaepernick began his protest he was joined by now former teammate, Eric Reid.
Within the year, protests have been performed by many players in the NFL. Colin Kaepernick
took a stand against oppression in America, and seems to have been exiled from the NFL
because of it. The NFL players, owners, and league officials must come to a conclusion to the
rules of anthem protests. These solutions could be between the players and owners, or even the
players and league officials.
The NFL players are kneeling during the national anthem because they want change in
America. They feel that minorities are being oppressed in the society we live in. Kneeling protest
during the National Anthem is a way to get America’s attention. A solution to the NFL players
form of protest could come between them and their team owner’s. Most owners in the NFL have
come out and supported their players for protesting, while others have said that they do not want
their players to take a knee. Proposing a compromise between the owners and players could
potentially solve this issue. For example, the players could stand during the anthem and the
owner’s could make donations and raise awareness to different organizations that are important
to the players. The Detroit Lions owner, Martha Ford, has already offered to compromise with
her player’s. Lions running back Ameer Abdullah said “We do dance around the topic a lot and
Mrs. Ford has come forward and said that as long as we compromise as a team and unify and
