NFL players kneeling during the national anthem was no longer an issue until old rich white guys began talking about it. Through the first two weeks of last season, roughly 24 players across the league knelt. Then President Donald Trump called the protesting players "sons of bitches," and well over 150 players took part in some sort of anthem demonstration.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones further fanned the flames with his standing edict, and Texans owner Bob McNair prompted nearly his entire team to kneel down after he reportedly compared NFL players to inmates (McNair later denied that was the analogy he was going for). Vice President Mike Pence also garnered headlines with his cheesy anthem walkout. Apparently, it's OK for some to politicize the anthem, but not others.
These events should have taught NFL owners the divisive kneeling issue would just go away on its own. But amazingly, at least one is still talking about it.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross reintroduced the topic Monday, when he told the New York Daily News "all" players on the Dolphins will stand next season. Several Dolphins starters, including Arian Foster, Kenny Stills, and Michael Thomas, have knelt for the last couple of years. There's no tangible evidence their actions have had any effect on the team's performance or perception. Yet, Ross randomly decided to lay down the law, because he says the narrative around the protests has changed.
OK, then.
"When that message changed, and everybody was interpreting it as that was the reason, then I was against kneeling," Ross said. "I like Donald. I don't support everything that he says. Overall, I think he was trying to make a point, and his message became what kneeling was all about. From that standpoint, that is the way the public is interpreting it. So I think that's really incumbent upon us to adopt that. That's how, I think, the country now is interpreting the kneeling issue."
Facing backlash, Ross retracted his comments Tuesday, saying his statement was "misconstrued."
Everything in life is a risk-reward. With that in mind, it's puzzling as to why Ross decided to bring up kneeling again. It only brings the story back in the news cycle, and could potentially alienate players from signing with Miami this offseason.
McNair's previous comments may already have accomplish that, especially considering the report that Houston will not consider signing any kneeling players in free agency. The organization denied that story Tuesday.
Towards the end of last season, the NFL offered to donate $100 million to social justice causes. Some of the league's more outspoken players, such as Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, were satisfied with that. Others were not. Either way, as the playoffs rolled around, the issue was once again on the back-burner.
It promises to stay that way, too, as long as the league's billionaire overlords can stick to sports.
