"Son of a Bitch"

EJ Manuel and Amari Cooper of the Oakland Raiders kneel during the national anthem before facing off against the Washington Redskins on Sept. 24, 2017.

Sports and politics have always been together whether you like it or not. Sports legends like Muhammad Ali and Bill Russell who dominated their sports. These two athletes were outspoken about problems in the United States. Now it’s a new generations of athletes’ turn to stand up for what they believe in.

Last Year in the NFL pre-season game Colin Kaepernick sat for the national anthem. He explained after the game his reasoning to NFL media, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Other players in the NFL followed Colin in his protest. Friday, Sept. 22 President Trump attacked football in a rally in Huntsville, Ala. Trump said, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!’” This sparked anger from the NFL community. On Twitter the number 1 trending topic was #TakeAKnee.

14 NFL owners put out statements against Trump, including Stan Kroenke of the Los Angeles Rams and Robert Craft of the New England Patriots. These two owners had donated money in support of Trump in the past, but called out the president for his divisive comments. NFL player Martellus Bennett responded to Trump on twitter saying “I’m ok with being fired for what I believe in.”

Then came game day, and the NFL came together. Not all players kneeled but there were most players lock arms with each other and did not put their hands over there heart. LeSean McCoy continued to stretch during the national anthem. The Pittsburg Steelers, Seattle Seahawks, and Tennessee Titans did not even come out of their locker rooms for the anthem. The WNBA Los Angeles Sparks also did not come out of the locker room in the first game of the Finals, the MLB had their first player, Bruce Maxwell of the Oakland Athletics, to kneel during the national anthem. Trump also came out against NBA player Stephen Curry. Trump had taken away Curry’s invitation to visit the White House.

NBA players came out to support Curry like LeBron calling our president a “Bum” and that him being there took out the honor of going to the White House. Trump’s interaction with the world of nation’s sports leagues has changed the narrative of the protests. It started as a Police brutality protest. In the wake of President Trump’s comments, the news networks like Fox News began calling it a protest to the national anthem. It was a demonstration to show that they cant stand for a country that oppresses it people.  

The Protest was dying down mostly because Colin Kaepernick can’t find a job in the NFL. He started it and now he is not getting the same publicity he was getting when he played in the NFL. But now it looks like it will be coming back. This can be a good thing if they keep there message they started with and this does not become a anti-trump protest.