In 1909, there were 33 men who lost their lives and even more who were seriously injured.
Almost all of them were bright, able-bodied, Ivy League-educated young men.
And they were all dying playing football.
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I think about this story a lot.
The President Of The United States stepping in and changing the game of football forever was an unprecedented move.
Now, one thing we need to make explicitly clear is thats what makes America what it is.
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They dont have to stand for the National Anthem, and you dont have to like it.
They didnt have to be.
At least up until the NFL realized they could market it.
This isnt hyperbole, and its not some insane conspiracy theory.
All because it made for better marketing.
Paid patriotism, actually.
Oh, but what about those players?
The players are at the crux of this whole issue, after all.
Theyre the ones deciding not to stand for something they didnt have to 8 years ago.
Those opposed to this form of protest have made the point that these players couldnt possibly be oppressed.
They have everything they could ever want!
Now, just the idea that being rich could solve every imaginable problem is absurd.
The reality is that these players all have their own experience from which they view the world.
Their perception of the world will be forever colored by how they grew up, just like yours.
We dont get to diminish that experience of theirs.
In America we dont get to tell people what they should and shouldnt do when they hear the anthem.
Telling someone that they have to stand for something is akin to what happens in a dictatorship.
That is as un-American as it gets.
Calling for things like that bring to mind Stalinist-Russia, Nazi Germany, and Mao led China.
All countries in which the freedom to disagree wasnt approved and was often dealt with by death.
This argument might be a bit different if EVERYONE stood with their hand over their heart during the anthem.
But bartenders dont stop pouring beers because the anthem is playing.
The anthem isnt unassailable.
Because this is America, after all.
The anthem isnt just about the military.
Patriotism and the national anthem go far beyond that.
Theyre symbols of freedom, which are things that are fought for and protected by the military.
But they arent the only ones.
Players get to hear the anthem however they want, just as you do.
They dont get to tell you how to listen to it, just like you dont.
And that very fact is what makes America what it is.
Maybe when someone believes in something that strongly, its worth listening to what theyve got to say.
