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Cincinnati Bengal Tyler Eifert respectfully disagrees with former San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the playing of the national anthem. In a thoughtful piece for Medium, the Bengals’s tight end begins by noting he jumped into this debate against his better judgment.

Then, he offered a simple, yet profound explanation for why he honors the anthem.

“I stand because I love my country.”

Eifert has other reasons, one being that some of his family members have proudly served in our armed forces.

As I stand for the national anthem, I don’t want there to be questions of why I am standing or if I will kneel. I want there to be a clear understanding of why I stand. I want there to be a clear understanding of why I respect our flag and why I love our country.

It's "sad" to see how divided we are even over a common practice of standing for the flag, he writes.

Kaepernick started kneeling last summer when he told the press he can’t respect the flag while law enforcement were supposedly targeting minorities. Several fellow players joined his protest.

In a moving gesture, Eifert explains that he will be honoring a military person by writing their name on his cleats for every game this season.

A bit more respectful than Kaepernick’s police pig socks don’t you think?

Eifert is also asking for support for the the K9s For Warriors charity to raise awareness about post traumatic stress disorder.

If more players behaved like Eifert, perhaps the NFL's ratings would fare better.

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ORIGINAL: Lucylastic

"Get that son of a bitch off the field"- black man protesting racial injustice

"Very fine people"- white people demanding racial injustice

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ORIGINAL: Lucylastic

It is so telling that you get battier than bat shit angry over a silent protest. (freedom of expression)
But condone violence.
Bless your heart

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ORIGINAL: Made2Obey
It's not that people object to Kaepernick voicing his opinion, that IS well within his rights as a citizen, no one is arguing against that.
The problem is that he chose to do so in an inappropriate venue. Football should not be politicized. Much in the same manner that actors who choose to use their acceptance speech at the Oscars or Emmys should leave it to a more appropriate time and place.
Kaepernick may have been making a point, but in doing so he was hurting football. Ever since he chose to politicize the game, whether for valid reasons or not, the ratings, attendance, and profits for the NFL have dropped significantly. The very game paying him millions of dollars has been harmed directly by his actions. There's no mystery as to why he hasn't been hired. If he was the best player in the league, (and he isn't even close) he would still be unemployed by the NFL as he has cost them more than he will ever be worth. It's not a message, it's economics.

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Here we are at another NFL Sunday. That used to represent a time of fun, games and unity. I hope we can return to that situation soon. One of the reasons we play the national anthem before the game is to remind us that even though we're rooting for different sports teams, we are united as a country. That is a wonderful message that we should not allow to be distorted by anyone.

Of course we all have the right to express ourselves, but as the Bible says, there is a time and place for everything. Last week I saw a story about pre-adolescent players being drawn into the "take a knee" protests. Does anyone honestly believe that encouraging even our youth to believe they are victims of our society will actually help us come together?
I think many athletes actually think they are making things better. We would encourage them and all Americans to utilize their influence to truly draw people together and not be manipulated into doing the opposite under the guise of unity.

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ORIGINAL: BoscoX


FR

Dr. Ben & Candy Carson (Facebook post):

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Here we are at another NFL Sunday. That used to represent a time of fun, games and unity. I hope we can return to that situation soon. One of the reasons we play the national anthem before the game is to remind us that even though we're rooting for different sports teams, we are united as a country. That is a wonderful message that we should not allow to be distorted by anyone.

Of course we all have the right to express ourselves, but as the Bible says, there is a time and place for everything. Last week I saw a story about pre-adolescent players being drawn into the "take a knee" protests. Does anyone honestly believe that encouraging even our youth to believe they are victims of our society will actually help us come together?
I think many athletes actually think they are making things better. We would encourage them and all Americans to utilize their influence to truly draw people together and not be manipulated into doing the opposite under the guise of unity.

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You (as in country) are not commonly referred to as the Dis-United States of America for nothing anymore

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ORIGINAL: MrRodgers

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ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

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ORIGINAL: BoscoX



And yeah, let it serve as a lesson. Do as you please, but be prepared to shoulder the consequences

You'll be a Libertarian yet.

Keep the Democrats out of your wallet and the Republicans out of your bedroom.

.....but also keep the republicans out of your children's and grand children's wallet.

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ORIGINAL: Lucylastic

And genitals