Do players have a right to kneel during anthem? Should they? Here’s what Texans say

Just stand during the national anthem, a majority of likely Texas voters say.

While most say NFL players have the right to protest by kneeling, 54 percent still wish they wouldn’t, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday morning.

“Texans are opposed to the practice of some National Football League players kneeling during the National Anthem before NFL games,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “Although they don’t like it, Texas likely voters overwhelmingly say it is the players’ right to do so.”

But not everyone agrees.

In fact, of those who were polled, 59 percent of the Republicans — and 53 percent of white voters with no college degree — say NFL players don’t have the right to kneel in protest.

The issue of whether professional athletes should stand during the national anthem has been simmering, often boiling over, since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to kneel during the national anthem — as a way to protest police shootings and racial injustice — before several NFL games in 2016.

Other players have joined in since then, including some this season despite the ensuing controversy.

Supporters note it’s a peaceful way to protest social injustice. Critics say kneeling during the anthem is an affront to the country, law enforcers and the military.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said his team will stand — not kneel, raise their fists or stay in the locker room — during the national anthem. Or they risk being cut from the team.

This Quinnipiac survey was conducted Sept. 11-17, reaching 807 likely voters on landlines and cell phones. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Political ties

The issue spilled over into politics when President Donald Trump last year called on NFL owners to fire any of their players who kneel during the anthem. He encouraged them to say, “Get that son of a b---- off the field right now. ... He’s fired.”

It also became an issue in the U.S. Senate race in Texas, when Democrat U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke — who is challenging Republican Ted Cruz for his Senate seat — addressed the issue last month during a town hall meeting in Houston.

“Non-violently, peacefully, while the eyes of this country are watching these games, they take a knee to bring our attention and our focus to this problem to ensure that we fix it,” O’Rourke told Texans. “I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully stand up, or take a knee, for your rights, anytime, anywhere, or any place.”

Cruz disagreed, even taking O’Rourke’s comments and creating a digital ad with them, comparing them to a veteran’s point of view.

“I gave two legs for this country. I’m not able to stand,” Vietnam veteran Tim Lee said in the ad. “But I sure expect you to stand for me when the national anthem is being played.”

Weighing in

Officials in the small North Texas city of Reno were among those offended by O’Rourke’s comments.

So they passed a resolution officially stating that it’s disrespectful to kneel during the anthem.

“The City Council has declared that it is disrespectful toward, and dishonors the sacrifice of our veterans, service members, and first responders of the United States of America to kneel during the National Anthem, a time during which all should stand to recognize and honor the sacrifice they have made to our country,” the resolution stated.

It went on to say the council “considers kneeling during the National Anthem of the United States of America not only un-American but to be one of the highest forms of disrespect anyone can show to the sacrifice and service of our country’s military members, veterans and first responders.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2018 at 5:32 AM.