As NFL players began last season continuing Colin Kaepernick’s protest from the season before, fans were quick to let the teams and players know that they were not amused. The league, however, was a little slow on the uptake.
Despite a lot of ridiculous spin — like saying they weren’t really being disrespectful of the anthem — fans continued to be unhappy. Ratings suffered all the way through the playoffs.
Maybe some coaches and teams want to avoid a repeat:
Cincinnati Bengals reportedly asked Eric Reid for a commitment that he wouldn’t kneel during national anthem; he refused and left without a contract offer: https://t.co/xfjJDhSSOP pic.twitter.com/0uRed59rj9
— The Root (@TheRoot) April 11, 2018
More from The New York Post:
Need further proof Eric Reid is paying for his support of Colin Kaepernick and decision to protest injustice by kneeling during the national anthem?
The former Pro Bowl safety had a visit with the Bengals on Monday. During the trip, he sat down with Mike Brown, when he was told the Cincinnati owner planned to prohibit players from kneeling, according to Pro Football Talk. Reid, who has said he is not planning to kneel during the national anthem anymore, was caught off-guard and wouldn’t make a commitment to his plans regarding kneeling.
After taking a physical, meeting with coaches and reviewing film, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis asked Reid if he wanted to clarify anything he said to ownership about kneeling, according to the report. He did not. And Reid, the first player to kneel with Kaepernick, has not been offered a contract.
The Bengals’ visit was Reid’s first as a free agent after a month of not getting any calls.
From the Post article, here is a statement that Bengals coach Marvin Lewis made last month:
“We are about playing football,” Lewis told reporters at last month’s owners’ meetings. “[Players who] have other agendas, this is not the place to be. On Sunday for us and throughout the week in the building, it’s about football. That’s how I’ve approached it. Whatever happens from the league standpoint we will go along with, but that is what our guys know. And they handle that for me. I don’t have to have a voice. They understand what I am about, anything beyond that gets in the way of us doing what we want to do and that’s winning football games.”
It didn’t take long for someone from the left media to chime in with an idiotic hot take. Here’s Adam Serwer, the senior editor for The Atlantic (He deleted the tweet, but I got the screenshot):
I am a stalwart free speech defender and I’ll chime in here: it doesn’t apply at work.
Nobody who depends on a paycheck from someone else gets to say whatever he or she wants to at work. If you don’t believe me, start raining down f-bombs the next time you walk into your place of employment. I’m a comedian and we have far more leeway at work than almost anyone. If a club owner tells me not to swear, I don’t swear.
I often wonder if lefties are being deliberately disingenuous about this or if they really are that dumb. Then I hear their arguments against the Second Amendment.
They really are that dumb.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member