Get Ready for NFL Anthem Kneeling — If There’s a Season
Jun 15, 2020
RUSH: So in latest with the kneeling and the flag, the National Football League… By the way, I just saw a story where a whole bunch of Dallas Cowboys players and Houston Texans players have now tested positive for coronavirus. I also read where Houston is thinking of locking down the city again, and turning NRG stadium into a hospital for COVID-19.
Now, folks, if that happens (chuckles), you can forget about the NFL playing in Houston this season. But anyway, I’m not sure Houston’s gonna shut down this happen it’s just a story on the possibility of it. Ezekiel Elliot, running back for the Cowboys, is one of the named players. He’s asymptomatic, not feeling the effects of it, is doing well.
But, see, that’s all it would take. If they open the season, all it’s gonna take is one or two players on every team just testing positive. That means quarantine ’em. That means shut everything down. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. It’s gonna be fascinating to see if the NFL can pull this off. But before we even get there, the NFL and the players — and now even some coaches — are suggesting, “We’ve got the green light to kneel during the anthem!
“Most Americans are supportive of that. Most Americans will join us in kneeling,†and they’re saying something curious at the same time. They are saying — and I’ve heard them. I’m hearing NFL players and commentators say that kneeling isn’t about the flag, and they’re admonishing us in very, very, very strong terms. “Don’t make the mistake! You don’t understand what’s going on.
“If you think kneeling, if you think kneeling is about the flag, you are wrong. You don’t even know what this is about.†Okay. Well, if that’s the case, then why are you kneeling? If it’s not about the flag, then why are you kneeling during the anthem when the flag is flying? Why not kneel when the ref blows a call against a black player?
Why not kneel at some other strategic point, stop the game, shut it down? Really. Why kneel during the anthem and during the honoring of the flag if it’s not about that? I know. I’m stirring it up here. But this is a logical question that I have about this. They’re all out there saying, “It ain’t about the flag — and if you think it’s about the flag, you just don’t get it.
“It’s never been about the flag. It’s never been about the country.†Oh, it hasn’t? “That’s right. It’s always been about the racist cops.†No. I’m sorry. It hasn’t always been about just the racist cops. But I’m not trying to open a can of worms. You know, some players kneel after the game. Have you noticed that? Do you know why they’re kneeling after the game?
They go to the 50-yard line and they form a circle. You know why they kneel? (whisper) “Because they’re praying.†Religious players from both teams, both sides, go to midfield at the end of a game and kneel, and it’s crystal clear what they’re doing. Nobody is offended. (Well, you know, other than the atheists.) Nobody’s offended. Nobody raises a beef about it. Nobody thinks it’s any kind of a protest.
It’s just a bunch of religious players taking a knee and praying. Kneeling during the anthem, that’s taking a knee on far more than a police issue. Everybody knows it. Symbols mean things. How many people associate a police department with a flag? I never did. I mean, I see the flag all the time. I never once thought, “Wow. I better honor the police department when I saw the flag.â€
It never occurred to me. But if players want to try to tell us that we don’t understand what the flag and the anthem represent, then they can. It’s their business. They can do it. I saw… The coach of the Houston Texans is a guy named Bill O’Brien, and he tweeted… Let’s see. Well, I don’t know if he tweeted. He said three days ago that he will also kneel with his team this year during the anthem.
The coach will lead the team in kneeling during the anthem, and I assume this is every game. Snerdley, do you think there’s gonna be an NFL season? (interruption) You do. You think there will be an NFL season. Will it start on time, and will there be fans in the stadiums? (interruption) You do? (interruption) Okay. You think so, Brian? (interruption)
Starting to have doubts out there. Do you believe that most Americans think that racism and bigotry is a virus that they’ve caught? (interruption) You don’t believe that? (interruption) Okay. I just wanted to… I just wanted to check.
