No Winner and Plenty to Blame in Trump vs. NFL Battle

Since Sunday's controversial national anthem protests, I have taken a step back to observe the noise, madness and debate regarding the Trump vs. NFL storyline that has gripped the country. As a result I have come to a simple conclusion: nobody is winning this debate. Instead we are left with a country, no matter where you stand on the issue that is in taters with plenty of blame to go around.

Yes,  President Trump's remarks were extremely off-putting, random, and divisive. In all honesty he should not have used the term  "SOB's," to describe the players, and, his call to owners to fire players for taking a knee took the argument too far.  In addition, his criticism for the lack of hard hitting in games came in poor taste. With CTE a huge issue for the league's current and former players, these were comments he should have avoided.

But this is who President Trump is.  He has been known for providing fiery, provocative commentary, and with the NFL cracking at the seems over National Anthem protests, he tapped into it the anger that a lot of people are feeling right now.

It is that feeling of resentment from everyday Americans that NFL players do not understand, and from we have seen this week, they don't want to understand.

Predictably the NFL players took the President's comments to great offense and decided to conduct mass protests not against inequality, but rather against the President of the United States and his comments. Many knelt, others linked arms, and in the case of the Pittsburgh Steelers, they protested the American flag by hiding in the tunnel.

Such displays have distorted and erased whatever message Colin Kaepernick was trying to convey two years ago. Kaepernick wanted people to believe that he was kneeling to "protest injustice."  However, what Kaepernick failed to understand, and what many other players now fail to understand is is refusing to stand for the national anthem is a slap in the face at everything that is America. It is a slap in the face at those veterans who sacrificed their lives for this country, and freedoms that many enjoy to this day.

Is the United States a perfect country? No, it never was. Over our 250-plus years of existence, we are a Nation of many imperfections. There is no perfect Nation; there has never has been a perfect nation in the history of the world.  But compare the United States to other nations in the world, no country offers more opportunity to the individual than the United States of America. No nation believes in seeking equality and justice like the United States. No nation has freed more people from oppression like the United States. Don't believe me read a book on World War II; that's right I said read a book.

 Go to the Middle East and see how the Saudi Arabia or Iran treat those looking to voice their displeasure against the government? Heck, in most of those Middle Eastern countries, women are stoned to death if they even try to leave their husbands. The Communist nation of Cuba has long been known for its human rights violations. Just talk to any dissident of a Cuban-American, and they will tell you how their family members tried to leave the Castro-controlled island.

But back to the protest. What exactly are the players protesting now? It certainly is not injustice or inequality between races? That message is gone. Is it against the military as some fans believe? No. There are players who say they are not protesting the military and I believe them; but this entire protest has now morphed into a political message the players are forcing down the throat of the American people.

The paying customer did not ask to have this message thrown into their faces. All fans want is to break away from the politics of the day and watch a little football for 6 hours. NFL Sunday's are a chance to truly break away from the noise.

Kneeling or locking arms during the National Anthem is a poor way to protest all the problems that face the inner city communities that many NFL players grew up in.

If these multi-million dollar players, who by the way earned all that money thanks in big part to growing up and living the "AMERICAN DREAM," really want to speak out against social injustice, they should do themselves a favor and go into the inner cities where they play and make an impact on the lives of young black and Hispanic boys and girls who look up to them. Join a DARE program; work with the Police Athletic League; attend a National Night Out event; volunteer at a soup kitchen during the summer and winter; become a fabric of your community. That is how you make a change in the lives of those who are struggling.

That is why we have fans across the country vowing never to return. YouTube has become filtered with fans burning jersey's and memorabilia. Will these fans comeback? Are they serious? Yes. Especially the veterans who served this country. They have a right to be angry. Some fans, who are upset might  come back because their team is playing well, but others will most definitely stay away for good. The NFL lost their support.

Now for the hypocrites. First the owners, many of whom threw millions of dollars at the Trump campaign last year, and many of whom, (Jerry Jones this means year) vowed to throw out players who knelt during the Anthem. Well, on Sunday these same owners changed their tune faster than a chameleon changes colors. The same owners who took great offense to the Anthem protest when Kaepernick started it, and the same owners who did not want Kaepernick in their locker rooms providing a distraction to their teams, all of sudden did a 180 when Trump spoke up.

Like Shannon Sharpe said on Fox Sports, the owners will protect the NFL shield no matter the cost and matter who their anger is directed at.  The owners should be embarrassed by their hypocrisy.

Roger Goodell: This is the same commissioner who would not allow the Cowboys wear a decal honoring fallen Dallas police officers last season. However when it comes to kneeling before the Anthem that is ok, because it's a "first amendment right." So, let me get this right, honoring fallen officers is not a first amendment right, but kneeling before the anthem is? Ok, Roger. If anyone is responsible for creating this toxic climate in the NFL it is Roger Goodell.

His tenure has sent the NFL spirally out of control for some time. From the botched Delfatgate case, to his botched attempts at levying discipline on the league's players for their off-field behavior, the NFL has become the thing of late night jokes and online memes. This is now the latest in a long decay of the NFL's credibility in the eyes of its fans. I could say Goodell needs to go, but the owners will never let that happen.

Thinking back on this weekend, I wish the coaches and owners would have handled this differently. We saw the Steelers, for example, refuse to come out for the National Anthem, leaving only left tackle Alejandro Villanueva to stand out there by himself. It looked bad. Mike Tomlin looks foolish for his decision because he created a toxic locker room distraction when the focus should have been on the Chicago Bears.

While the President's words were divisive, the coaches had a chance to shape the moment. If I were a coach I would have told the players to stand up and place their right hand over their heart. Even better, I would have told them to walk up to the flag and grab one end of it, while placing their hand over their heart and honor the country. Why? Because that would have showed more guts to the nation, and demonstrated that the President's words would have no impact on them. The NFL players and coaches have a right to be upset, but they should not have taken the rest of us down the rabbit hole with them. Shame on the NFL.