An online story by a notorious sports media figure on The Undefeated blog suggests the NFL's sell-out to activists disguised as football players is all but complete. Capitulating to disrespectful social justice warriors, the league will give them nearly $100 million AND -- during the upcoming playoffs -- a platform for their political issues. Who better to break the story than Jemele Hill, the ESPN Sports Center anchorwoman and social media lookout for white supremacists.
Hill cites the Philadelphia Eagles' veteran anthem protester Harold Jenkins as her source that the NFL will give the league's social justice warriors a platform during the postseason:
According to Jenkins, the NFL has agreed to give the players their platform during the playoffs and the Super Bowl to create a social justice campaign, which is no small thing. Jenkins and the players also plan to use the NFL’s legislative influence to push for more equitable reform.
I’m excited because what we’ve done has never been done before,” Jenkins said. “We’re talking about using the NFL platform to talk about issues that are important to the African-American community, on top of using their legislative power to create change. The underreported part of this is the platform piece.”
The "platform piece" is underreported because it's going to anger a ton of football fans. Could it make kneeling, sitting and raising a fist at the Star Spangled Banner and America's veterans look like child's' play? We don't yet know what the platform will look like, but it's part of the growing political activism that has come to overshadow the competitive part of football. Competition is now becoming a sidebar to the big picture. Can the Eagles beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl? Who cares, it's almost an afterthought.
Hill's story also spelled out the divide between Jenkins and other activists (Kaepernick included) who've been trying to convince the NFL to cough up financial support for their political causes. In fact some protesters accuse Jenkins and others of agreeing to give up pre-game protests in exchange for the $100 million and the platform. Some are suspicious of Jenkins because he owns five Papa John's pizza franchises and he's in business with a, dread, conservative!
"For some, all the dots seemed to connect," Hill writes. "The NFL promises a ton of money. Jenkins lowers his fist. And come to find out he’s in business with John Schnatter, the CEO of Papa John’s, who not only is known for his conservative views, but recently blamed the player protests for hurting his pizza sales."
Hill argues that the bickering NFL activists should make the peace because they all want the same thing -- "tangible policy changes that address how people of color are systematically abused by the criminal justice system. They want people of color to have access and opportunity. They want the war on black bodies to stop."
Moreover, Hill writes that "Kaepernick’s powerful decision to kneel" is what has driven the activists' victory and they should all celebrate their triumph together.
There are none so blind as those who will not see. The activists have been damaging the NFL's brand week by week, all season long. They don't have the good sense to realize that by turning up the volume on their harmful activities they are as good as ushering still more viewers and ticket buyers out the door. It's their loss. And their enablers in the media, Hill and so many more, are encouraging the self-destruction of the National Football League.
