An NFL season marred by player protests disrespecting veterans and police officers, leading to a damaging loss of public approval for the league, ended Sunday with the Take a Knee and Black Lives Matter movements royally embarrassing themselves outside the Super Bowl in Minneapolis. Protesters, encouraged by progressive media, blocked an entrance at US Bank Stadium and a rail line nearby. Seventeen people were arrested for impeding Super Bowl ticket holders from getting to the game by train.
Salon magazine cited American racism and police brutality as justification for citizen anger. Minneapolis Star-Tribune writers Pat Pheifer, Paul Walsh and Liz Sawyer said the street mayhem was part of a series of protests by activists "decrying 'police brutality, corporate greed and racism.'" A few days ago, The Nation promoted radical protest groups, one which encouraged local police to refuse to cooperate with ICE on enforcement of immigration law. There were no player protests at Super Bowl 52.
Salon editor at large D. Watkins tried justifying the anger of activists by reverting back in history: "(Francis Scott) Key wrote the poem while he was a slave owner. He sang for freedom while literally enslaving black people." More recently, he alleges, Colin Kaepernick was blackballed by the NFL. "His reasons were tied to the string of killings of unarmed African-Americans by police officers and the way in which the system fails to deliver justice in these cases, over and over again."
Watkins belittled critics of Kaeperick and other players who took a knee in pre-game protests in the last two seasons, saying they don’t know, understand or care about the history of the Star Spangled Banner or why players kneel while it's played. At the top of his list are President Donald Trump and Vice-president Mile Pence. Watkins went on:
"Disrespecting the flag, troops and law enforcement are the only recycled bad ideas that they are able to comprehend. Those same critics never acknowledge that many American troops kneeled with Kap, as they agree that our country has serious problems that need to be addressed. It’s also important to mention that a U.S. Army veteran, Nate Boyer, influenced Kaepernick to kneel rather than sit. Again, active soldiers get it. Pence, who never served in the military, and draft-dodging-Donald, don’t."
Watkins said the Super Bowl provided activist players a chance to demonstrate America's ugly racist roots: "This is the ultimate chance for NFL players to send a message to the world that America constantly falls short of its own ideals: equality doesn’t exist, and our government practices racist polices in a racist system while being ran by a racist president. This message constantly needs to be sent, but at times I wonder if anyone cares." No players heeded his bad advice.
The Salon writer believes most "thinking people" get it, but "the non-thinkers are great at pretending to be offended by all of the controversy surrounding a song they rarely notice otherwise." Watkins has "really low expectations for America when it comes to dealing with race. I mean, look at who is in the White House now. Isn’t the lack of concern over racism grossly obvious? ... Racist fans love black athletes when they're dunking or scoring touchdowns but hate them when they speak out about our country's problems."
NBC's Super Bowl pregame coverage included interviews with two people on opposite ends of the protest spectrum. Tony Dungy interviewed the Eagles' Malcolm Jenkins, leader of the Players' Coalition which squeezed $89 million out of the NFL to support social justice crusades. Dungy lobbed him softball questions and seemed pleased with what the protesting players are doing.
Jenkins said, "We wanted them (the NFL) to support us with was one we know how the NFL amplifies whatever cause they want. We wanted a campaign of that magnitude around social justice. Police brutality and these issues that we've been highlighting. The second part is, we wanted some monetary support to actually give money and funds to the grassroots organizations that are actually doing this work on a daily basis. And the third part, and I think it's one of the most important parts is, the NFL's one of the biggest lobbyers out there and we wanted them to lend us their strength from a legislative standpoint. Those are the three things that we've asked and so far they've come to the table with that."
NBC's Michelle Tafoya interviewed the Minnesota Vikings' legendary former coach Bud Grant, now 90. She asked him about the "Vikings Formation," his requirement for players to respect the flag during the national anthem. Grant said:
"I was raised during the war. I have a lot of friends that got killed in that war. It's just important to me. That we show respect for those people who paid the ultimate price. The least I could do. It's not much. But that's all I could do."
Also during the weekend, ESPN's Howard Bryant complained (on The Sporting Life ESPN radio program) that "the relationship between (Patriots' coach Bill ) Belichick and (Tom) Brady and (New England owner Robert) Kraft and Donald Trump has people turned off on some areas and invigorated in other areas. So there's something about this franchise that is incredibly polarizing. ... They're the great villain of the NFL. And we are known to be the liberal bastion here (in Massachusetts) and this team that is associated with a divisive Republican president."
The only dividers in Minneapolis Sunday were law-breaking radicals who were encouraged by far left comrades in the media.
