Readers wade into anthem, NFL conversation

TV ratings may spell trouble for NFL

Clarence Hill’s Fox 4 News analysis of Jerry Jones having the Cowboys stand for the national anthem was so far off the mark it amazed me.

Jones wants players to stand for the national anthem because viewership is down, attendance is down and the networks that are broadcasting NFL games are seeing their stock price plummet.

Jones is smart enough to understand that this trend translates to trouble for everyone, including players.

Your reporter doesn’t understand that. It amazes me that the players don’t understand either.

Disrespecting the Stars and Stripes

We don’t need to read about how it’s fine to disrespect our flag, anthem and pledge, and how horrible it is for Jerry Jones to expect his team to behave and act like adults.

We want football, not politics

Please! Enough is enough! The press is keeping this alive!

I watched the Cowboys news conference Monday . There were more questions to Jason Garrett regarding the anthem controversy than football.

No one can question my patriotism. I spent many years working in the VFW Auxiliary. I assure you at a parade when the flag goes by I will be standing with my hand over my heart.

But when I read a sports page or watch sports news I want that: sports. Not who would be benched if he did not stand, and on and on!

Get back to football, please!

It’s about racial injustice, not flag

I have been an avid Cowboys fan since 1966 — though truth be told, I’ve been holding my nose, ever since Jerry Jones absurdly got rid of Jimmy Johnson.

I have remained a fan in spite of their owner and his ego. Childhood loyalties die hard.

However, Jerry’s rule forbidding his players to “disrespect” the flag during the national anthem just goes too far. The kneeling is clearly about racial injustice — our long, national disgrace — not the flag. Yet Jones chooses to ignore that and questions his players’ patriotism.

I call on players to challenge his narrow-minded threats, especially the stars and leaders of the team. Jerry Jones will not stand by and watch his team disintegrate.

Jones restricts players’ freedom

As a former pro athlete who proudly represented the U.S. in international competition and as a 57-year avid supporter of the Dallas Cowboys, I am reluctantly renouncing “my team” so long as the owner of the team chooses to support the president’s war against the NFL.

Perhaps it’s a long-held grudge by the president for not being allowed to buy a team?

Freedom of speech is what this country is about. And while I may disagree with the method the players are choosing to display their discontent, I fully support their role in doing so. The Supreme Court ruled there is a right to burn the flag. Why can’t one kneel during the anthem?

Cowboys can’t buy respect

The Cowboys dropped the ball by disrespecting everything about our America and its true believers in our country.

America’s team is now just another team with personal opinions displayed on national television. They have burned a bridge. The Cowboys may be millionaires, but one thing they can’t buy are loyal fans who will not tolerate disrespect.

Players defying convention

For almost a decade, I have heard many fellow citizens complain about too much “political correctness.”

Now, in 2017, a few athletes demonstrate “political incorrectness” by peacefully protesting and are excoriated by the same people who decried political correctness.

How dare these uppity athletes question those in power with a peaceful protest?

Don’t they know that they forfeit their rights when they enter the 39.6 percent tax bracket?

Jones says that “I’m going to create the perception” of respecting the flag, a statement that is the very embodiment of “political correctness.”

Jones appears to pick and choose whose feelings it is OK to protect.

And now, a little tongue-in-cheek

Please don’t tell me this is much ado about nothing. President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Jerry Jones are entirely correct to be concerned about protests during the anthem.

I am retired Navy, so I know that the strength of our military, the prosperity of our people, and the very future of our country depend on quashing these protests. If they are allowed to continue, ships would sink, soldiers would mutiny, and the economy would tank. Chaos and anarchy would surely follow.

So I’m glad that our country’s leaders are devoting their time and attention to this critical issue rather than such trivial matters as climate change, the budget deficit and world peace.

Players can still be punished

Some facts need to be set straight with regards to the right of free expression. This right protects the people from governmental restraint. It does not protect players from employer sanctions.

In other words, if Jerry Jones says his employee players must stand and show respect for the flag and the national anthem as a condition of their employment with the team, they must do so. If they don’t, Jerry may properly take appropriate employment action against them.

The players are not protected by the First Amendment, since the Cowboys are not the government.

This story was originally published October 13, 2017 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Readers wade into anthem, NFL conversation."