The NFL season got underway on Thursday night and the pregame set the tone for what kind of a year it will be.
Players gathered in the middle of the field, linked arms in a show of “unity” and a stand against “systemic racism. You can imagine the players congratulating themselves on being so woke.
But fans were in no mood to give the players a high five for their enlightened social conscience. The 17,000 real people allowed in the stadium booed lustily.
Of course, the fans booed because they like racism and police brutality, right? That’s what the commentary about the incident made clear.
Chiefs fans boo as players from both teams link arms in a “moment of unity” and call for social justice before the game started.#NFLKickoff
pic.twitter.com/9OUphXqr8x— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 11, 2020
As far as the anthem, neither team was on the field. That’s the national anthem of the United States of America and not “Lift Up Your Voices” which is said to be the “Black National Anthem.” Why it was played along with the “Star-Spangled Banner” is the real reason that fans booed.
“Some NFL fans booing the players for standing and locking arms in a moment of silent unity proves that for them ‘standing for the flag’ was always about perpetuating white supremacy,” said Bunch, who is white.
New York Jets offensive tackle George Fant, who is Black, praised the Chiefs and Texans for taking a stance during a Zoom call with reporters in which he only took questions about social justice.
“We just want to be treated equally,” he said. “Everyone needs to be treated the same. Everyone needs to be held accountable. And for people to boo? It’s unbelievable.”
They want the damn athletes to shut up and play the damn game. Why is that so hard to understand?
Needless to say, the players, the coaches, the ownership, and commentators didn’t have a clue why the fans were booing.
The linked-arm moment, a simple but notable display of unity, was greeted with boos from fans. Not all fans. There was plenty of clapping and cheering, too. But there were not many fine people on both sides of the idea of unity.
That’s a pretty simple “yes, good idea.”
As Texans defensive end J.J. Watt said: “The moment of unity I personally thought was good. I mean the booing during that moment was unfortunate. I don’t fully understand that. There was no flag involved. There was nothing involved other than two teams coming together to show unity.”
If that’s all that Watt believes was being represented, he’s dumber than he looks. Fans watch football to escape the real world. They judge players not by the color of their skin but by how fast they can run the 40 or if they can “climb the ladder” to pull down that TD pass. They could give a rat’s patootie if their favorites are white black, yellow, red, green, or pink-polka dot. Sports are the last bastion of merit-based excellence in America and to accuse fans of racism because they want to escape from the madness that is 2020 America shows why the NFL is in such a precipitous decline.
Watt thinks because there’s no flag issue, that everyone should get on board the social justice train. What Watt does in his private life is none of our business and many of those booing would stand with him — outside of the game day context.
But if this is all America is destined to be — a punching bag for liberals and a depository of all the evil in the world for others — leave us 3 hours on a Sunday to escape the relentless — and frankly repetitive and boring — calls for reform.
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