Kneeling for the national anthem is now officially against league policy. The NFL approved a policy today that allows players to stay inside the locker room during the anthem. However, if they’re out on the field it requires them to stand and “show respect for the flag and anthem.”
NFL Bans Players from Kneeling During National Anthem
The full statement from Roger Goodell can be seen below:
Statement from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pic.twitter.com/1Vn7orTo1R
— NFL (@NFL) May 23, 2018
The statement mentions that the protests created a false sense that NFL players are unpatriotic. To combat that, it requires that they stand during the anthem, or stay in the locker room. The Game Operations manual will be revised to allow players to stay in the locker room. It also allows teams to develop their own rules for disciplining players who “do not stand and show respect for the Anthem.”
The protests have been a polarizing issue in the NFL since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began protesting the anthem in the 2016 pre-season. He emphasized that it was not protesting the flag, but instead to call attention to social injustice and police brutality.
Since then, other players like Michael Bennett, Chris Long, and Eric Reid have joined in. The controversy grew after President Donald Trump tweeted that players who kneel should be removed from the field.
However, until now there were no explicit rules that prohibited players from protesting during the anthem. Teams decided individually how they wanted to deal with the issue. Most simply allowed players who wanted to kneel to do so.
The NFLPA has backed the protesting players throughout this ordeal. Today they issued a response to the decision, condemning the decision to create the policy without consulting the NFLPA:
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) May 23, 2018
The statement emphasizes that the policy is inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement and they will challenge it. This is definitely not the end of this issue, and it will be interesting to see how each team reacts to and enforces this new policy.
