Trump’s Attack On Black Athletes May Bring a League to Its Feet

[Auburn85 432]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-attack-on-black-athletes-may-bring-a-league-to-its-feet

 

If any doubts remain about the veracity of ESPN anchor Jemele Hill’s assessment of Donald Trump, the president spent Friday night and much of Saturday morning lashing out at black athletes—because said attacks play straight to his white nationalist base.

On Friday, while stumping in Alabama for GOP senate candidate Luther Strange, Trump diverted from his prepared remarks, as is his wont. After a lengthy pause, Trump stared grimly into the distance, and then unleashed a winding, unhinged spiel about NFL players who kneeled during the National Anthem. He asked the assembled crowd, “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. He’s fired.’”

The audience cheered. Trump didn’t stop there, waxing nostalgic about the NFL of yore, when men—real men—could inflict permanent damage on one another without worrying about those pesky concussive and subconcussive blows to the head and long-term cognitive diseases, sounding like a bog-standard sports talk radio caller. “They’re ruining the game!” he whinged.

Trump added that ratings had dropped, partly because fans preferred to watch him, and encouraging anyone who witnesses the free expression of political thought should flee to a preferred safe space and boycott the NFL altogether.

“I guarantee things will stop,” he said. “Just pick up and leave. Pick up and leave. Not the same game anymore, anyway.”

(Not to try to parse Trump’s stream-of-consciousness blather, but with regards to his ability to  swipe viewers from the NFL: that may have been the case during the election, but the current drop has far more to do with cord-cutting and the lousy product on the field.)

 

 

Trump’s anti-NFL comments in Huntsville were just the beginning. On Saturday morning, shortly following a Fox & Friendssegment on the Golden State Warriors’ star, Stephen Curry. Specifically, Trump did not fancy Curry’s announcement that he had no desire to be feted by the White House, and so Trump tweetedthat he never wanted Curry and the rest of those mean ol’ world champion Golden State Warriors to come to his party anyway.

Donald J. Trump 

 

✔@realDonaldTrump

Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!

7:45 AM - Sep 23, 2017

•  
   87,03387,033 Replies
•  
•  
   51,53651,536 Retweets
•  
•  
   155,585155,585 likes

Granted, as LeBron James helpfully pointed out, Curry wasn’t “hesitating.” He said outright that he had no intention of serving as Trump’s grinning prop.

 

 Follow

LeBron James 

 

✔@KingJames

U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!

10:17 AM - Sep 23, 2017

•  
   33,58633,586 Replies
•  
•  
   464,616464,616 Retweets
•  
•  
   911,810911,810 likes

Twitter Ads info and privacy

 

 

Also, the insult “bum” has been dragged back into the lexicon, which is nice, given that it will probably irk Trump as much as any other (accurate) label. Of course, Trump doubled down on Saturday afternoon, pilfering a line or two from the Breitbart comments section.

 

 Follow

Donald J. Trump 

 

✔@realDonaldTrump

If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL,or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect....

1:11 PM - Sep 23, 2017

•  
   31,77831,778 Replies
•  
•  
   25,15325,153 Retweets
•  
•  
   88,90688,906 likes

Twitter Ads info and privacy

 

 

 

 Follow

Donald J. Trump 

 

✔@realDonaldTrump

...our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU'RE FIRED. Find something else to do!

1:18 PM - Sep 23, 2017

•  
   40,96440,964 Replies
•  
•  
   23,53823,538 Retweets
•  
•  
   83,53483,534 likes

Twitter Ads info and privacy

 

 

It’s also worth mentioning that Trump is clawing back an invitation that doesn’t seem to exist. When the Warriors won the 2017 title, erroneous reports were published claiming the team had already voted not to go. Much of the roster, including Curry, have quite open in voicing their critiques of the current administration, but whether they’d trek to Washington was still up in the air as of Friday.

Even if the odds were against the Warriors choosing to stand by Trump’s side, there’s no evidence that the White House formally extended an offer, and Trump skipped out on congratulating the team by phone when they knocked off the Cavaliers in June.  

This comes a week after White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders repeatedly called for Hill to be fired, yet oddly enough, neither Trump nor any of his various flacks deigned to weigh in on other celebrities who took shots at the president, likeMiss America contestants, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel.

Trump’s close, personal friend Tom Brady also skipped out on a White House visit, and yet Trump didn’t say squat, going so far to pretend Brady didn't exist when the New England Patriots were standing on the White House lawn. And it’s hard to miss that Trump has expressed far more disdain for black athletes than he ever did neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville, because a rude tweet or an insult lobbed while clutching a podium about a white person doesn’t rile up his MAGA fanboys.  

For its part, NFL did respond with some weak tea in which they failed to either mention Trump by name or rebuke what he said. The statement from Commissioner Roger Goodell instead highlighted the league’s charitable efforts following Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, saying only that “Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players.”

The NFLPA, however, actually said something, and NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts called the withdrawal by Trump a “badge of honor.” The NBA did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

 

 Follow

DeMaurice Smith 

 

✔@DeSmithNFLPA

We will never back down. We no longer can afford to stick to sports.

5:57 AM - Sep 23, 2017

•  
   1,4541,454 Replies
•  
•  
   10,38910,389 Retweets
•  
•  
   27,73127,731 likes

Twitter Ads info and privacy

 

 

If you want to know what the NFL and NFL owners actually think, you just have to follow the money. As Yahoo’s Charles Robinsonnoted, Trump’s inaugural committee received a combined $7.25 million from eight NFL owners, and NFL Ventures, the NFL’s marketing, sponsorship, and branding arm, coughed up and additional $100,000. To date, no owner or team has issued a statement standing up for its employees, and the Dallas Cowboys' head coach punted.

The athletes themselves, though, aren’t holding back. They took Twitter to on Saturday to express their anger, offer thoughtful analysis or even laugh at the ridiculous notion that a sitting president would go to war with two sports leagues. The Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy called Trump an “a**hole.” The Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul doubted that “[Trump’s] man enough to call any of those players a son of a bitch to their face,” advising the president to ”#StayInYoLane.” And Kobe Bryant, who is not known for taking a political stance at all, lent his name to the growing chorus. Colin Kaepernick’s mom even joined in, though Trump never specifically mentioned her son.

18h

Jamil Smith 

 

 ✔@JamilSmith

Trump referred to any NFL player who protests racism and police violence as a “son of a bitch’ who should be fired.http://es.pn/2fokdRK 

 

 Follow

Teresa Kaepernick @B4IleaveU

Guess that makes me a proud bitch!

10:46 PM - Sep 22, 2017

•  
   3,1883,188 Replies
•  
•  
   37,11837,118 Retweets
•  
•  
   119,632119,632 likes

Twitter Ads info and privacy

 

 

In an interview with Deadspin, Teresa Kaepernick said the degrading insults and pandering to racists is, “almost what I’ve come to expect from [Trump] and what most of us have come to expect from him.”

But ex-Green Bay Packers running back Ryan Grant may have put it best. "I'm actually glad Trump said what he did," he tweeted. "Publicly with an audience. Once again it empowers the players to live their truth."

He’s right. Expressions of anger on social media are one thing, but it’s not enough. The NFL is making it perfectly clear, here and now, that football players are wholly replaceable cogs, a stance that should have been patently obvious long ago, yet still comes days after players wrote a letter to Goodell and the NFLPA, asking that the league back their activism.

The true test comes Sunday at 1pm. Any NFL player still standing—regardless of race or ethnicity—is letting the world know that they are offering implicit support for a man who questions Americans’ basic right to free expression, and leans all the way into America's deep-seated racial animus. Beyond the NFL, their brethren in the NBA, Major League Baseball, and the NFL, should realize this is a moment for solidarity and go full Spartacus, in whatever manner they can. Maybe follow the example set by the national champion University of North Carolina men’s basketball team, which won’t be shaking hands with Trump.

Even if a mass protest is exactly what Trump wants—a chance to stoke the fires of a still simmering culture war and provide a “distraction” from the staggering failures and ineptitudes that have been the one constant in his presidency—it doesn’t matter. Per reports, conversations about a collective response are already taking place. Good.

 

[aujeff11 6,243]

The deplorables v. the sons of bitches...great sports programming 

[homersapien 11,453]

.....From boxer Jack Johnson to the University of Wyoming’s Black 14, from Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith and John Carlos to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Craig Hodges, America has a long tradition of black athletes taking a stand against racial injustice. Black protest in sports tends to take the form of a freighted absence — Ali gone from boxing for three years; Abdul-Rauf in the locker room during the national anthem. Curry’s pointed withdrawal from the White House visit is of a piece with Kaepernick’s choice to sit during the anthem, which subsequently led the league to blackball him. ESPN, in its frantic attempts to keep Hill off the air, nearly created a charged absence right in the middle of its afternoon programming block.

It was only a matter of time before the racial reaction embodied by Trump’s presidency would explode across the sports landscape. There are few places in America where black people are more visible and their voices more audible than in the NFL and NBA, and on ESPN. Seventy percent of NFL players are black. Nearly three quarters of NBA players are. ESPN, for all its other faults, is by far the most racially diverse sports media outlet on the planet.

Echoes of the white grievance that powered the Trump campaign can be heard, for instance, in the complaints about ESPN’s liberal tendencies, a polite euphemism for the network’s blackness. They can be heard, too, in the furious response to Kaepernick’s protest, in which athletes represent an ascendant black power that is ungrateful for the opportunities extended to them, and wrong for pointing out the obvious racial injustices that still exist in the country. The backlash is fueled by the belief that, in return for million-dollar salaries and the fragile affections of many white fans, black sports figures are required to sacrifice their basic humanity and their right to participate in civic society. Curry and Kaepernick and Hill broke that unspoken agreement.....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-cant-stop-attacking-black-sports-figures_us_59c69b5be4b01cc57ff28eac?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

[aujeff11 6,243]

16 minutes ago, homersapien said:

Echoes of the white grievance that powered the Trump campaign can be heard, for instance, in the complaints about ESPN’s liberal tendencies, a polite euphemism for the network’s blackness.

Didn’t vote for Trump. Voted Obama twice. It’s different when sports athletes are responding to a president that has been denigrating athletes, but otherwise, keep politics off my sports programming. 

Thanks 

[aujeff11 6,243]

“Your” President....aka the tired “not my president.”

 

[AU64 10,122]

NFL trying to make this about Trump.....but most Americans know the issue is respect for the country and what it stands for.   Painting every person who objects to these disrespectful displays as racists identifies the true racists among us and is almost guaranteed to drive more people away from the players and the league.   NFL gonna pay for this in a number of ways  JMO.

Chief cowards at the moment are the Steelers who did not come out for the anthem....except for one player who proudly stood in the concourse while the National Anthem was played.  Congrats to him.

[aujeff11 6,243]

5 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Chief cowards at the moment are the Steelers who did not come out for the anthem....except for one player who proudly stood in the concourse while the National Anthem was played.  Congrats to him.

The Lone Ranger was an Army Ranger. You know he is coming out. 

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

6 hours ago, AU64 said:

NFL trying to make this about Trump.....but most Americans know the issue is respect for the country and what it stands for.   Painting every person who objects to these disrespectful displays as racists identifies the true racists among us and is almost guaranteed to drive more people away from the players and the league.   NFL gonna pay for this in a number of ways  JMO.

Chief cowards at the moment are the Steelers who did not come out for the anthem....except for one player who proudly stood in the concourse while the National Anthem was played.  Congrats to him.

My hat is off to him. I won't watch any more NFL games.

[AU64 10,122]

Just wondering when this first happens at a college game.....and what happens.  Won't be very long... next couple weeks I expect.   JMO.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Don't care.  As long as they aren't disrupting those who wish to sing and stand, let other people be.  Way bigger things in life to get your undies in a twist over.  

[AU64 10,122]

14 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Don't care.  As long as they aren't disrupting those who wish to sing and stand, let other people be.  Way bigger things in life to get your undies in a twist over.  

Disagree....matter of principle on my side too and just another move down the famous slippery slope.  And since this seems to be becoming a Constitutional issue....looking for players to exercise their second amendment rights and be free to have legal weapons in dressing rooms.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

25 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Don't care.  As long as they aren't disrupting those who wish to sing and stand, let other people be.  Way bigger things in life to get your undies in a twist over.  

That's just it, they want the attention. That's why they're doing it. If they weren't trying to disrupt or create a scene then they would just stay in the locker room while the anthem is playing. That's what they need to start doing if they don't want to disrupt or cause a scene.

I've yet to figure out how the national anthem is racist and why they're using it to protest police brutality against black people? 

 

The Jaguars and Ravens both stood for the British national anthem:

Quote

NEW YORK -- About two dozen players, including Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs and Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette, took a knee during the playing of the national anthem before the start of the teams' game at Wembley Stadium on Sunday in London. 

Other players on one knee during the performance included Ravens linebacker C.J. Mosley, wide receiver Mike Wallace and safety Lardarius Webb as well as Jaguars linebacker Dante Fowler, defensive tackle Calais Campbell, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

Players on both teams and Jaguars owner Shad Khan, who were not kneeling, remained locked arm-in-arm throughout the playing of the national anthem in an apparent response to President Donald Trump, who said this week that NFL owners should fire those who disrespected the American flag.

No players were kneeling during the playing of the British national anthem. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nfl-jaguars-ravens-players-kneel-national-anthem-london/

[TitanTiger 20,511]

1 minute ago, Auburnfan91 said:

That's just it, they want the attention. That's why they're doing it. If they weren't trying to disrupt or create a scene then they would just stay in the locker room while the anthem is playing. That's what they need to start doing if they don't want to disrupt or cause a scene.

So what?  It's still isn't disruptive.  They aren't waving protest signs and blowing horns.  They aren't trying to block your view of the flag.  They aren't running around the field jumping up and down.  They are kneeling on the sideline.  

Life's too short, people.

[homersapien 11,453]

10 hours ago, aujeff11 said:

Didn’t vote for Trump. Voted Obama twice. It’s different when sports athletes are responding to a president that has been denigrating athletes, but otherwise, keep politics off my sports programming. 

Thanks 

If it's YOUR sports programming, take it off yourself.   

[aujeff11 6,243]

28 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

Don't care.  As long as they aren't disrupting those who wish to sing and stand, let other people be.  Way bigger things in life to get your undies in a twist over.  

There are often way bigger things in life that deservedly warrant frustration.. That doesn’t mean the smaller things should be dismissed as insignificant. I’m not sure why Trump has put his political bullseye on protesting NFL players,  and I doubt he recovers from this, but that’s not my issue. My issue is the pushed out narrative that the anti-protest group is being labeled as racist for their soft criticism of Kaepernick, his scattered platform, and the prevalence of politics in sports. 

Like this:

11 hours ago, homersapien said:

Echoes of the white grievance that powered the Trump campaign can be heard, for instance, in the complaints about ESPN’s liberal tendencies, a polite euphemism for the network’s blackness.

 

[homersapien 11,453]

50 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Just wondering when this first happens at a college game.....and what happens.  Won't be very long... next couple weeks I expect.   JMO.

Thank you, president Trump.

[aujeff11 6,243]

1 minute ago, homersapien said:

Thank you, president Trump.

[PUB78 1,364]

1 hour ago, Proud Tiger said:

My hat is off to him. I won't watch any more NFL games.

Or any NBA games for me either. Stopped watching NBA last year, substantially reduced my NFL viewing last year and haven't watched a single game this year.

[PUB78 1,364]

19 minutes ago, TitanTiger said:

So what?  It's still isn't disruptive.  They aren't waving protest signs and blowing horns.  They aren't trying to block your view of the flag.  They aren't running around the field jumping up and down.  They are kneeling on the sideline.  

Life's too short, people.

Yes, life is too short to watch a bunch of spoiled athletes getting paid millions to play a game but disrespect our nation at the same time.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

4 minutes ago, PUB78 said:

Yes, life is too short to watch a bunch of spoiled athletes getting paid millions to play a game but disrespect our nation at the same time.

Life is too short to treat a flag like a idol and then act like someone insulted my god.  Someone else said it better than I could:

Soldiers in the United States military do not swear to defend a flag.

Their oath is to "support and defend" the Constitution, which guarantees all citizens the right to free speech and peaceful protest - rich, poor, black, white, right, wrong, smart, stupid, conservative, liberal, famous or unknown, respectful or disrespectful, effective or ineffective, on a street or ball field.

To deny this right to anyone would be a breach of this oath, a failure to "support and defend the Constitution...from all enemies" of the Constitution.

Every soldier (and every elected official), therefore, must be on the side of every peaceful protestor. Always. 

To do so does not signify agreement with the protestor's message or method. Instead, it demonstrates an understanding of the contents of the Constitution soldiers swear an oath to:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Peaceful protest is not an insult to our Constitution or our soldiers. It is a tribute to both.

Sit or stand, watch or don't, criticize or applaud. It's your right.

[aujeff11 6,243]

6 minutes ago, homersapien said:

If it's YOUR sports programming, take it off yourself.   

 Nope. If a scrub QB has the right to take a knee during the national anthem just to keep keep his bum career relevant, then I reserve the right to bitch about the direction of the network and for making a mountain out of a molehill with this particular incident.

[AU64 10,122]

I rarely watch NFL games....Panthers mostly to watch Cam but that is fast losing my interest.  But on Sunday afternoons I often have a game on while I do other stuff...but no more.  I am just one person so probably nobody cares.....but I bet I am not alone in my protest and the league and sponsors will eventually get the message.

[homersapien 11,453]

20 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

He elevated the "issue", did he not?

[aujeff11 6,243]

3 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

Life is too short to treat a flag like a idol and then act like someone insulted my god.  Someone else said it better than I could:

Soldiers in the United States military do not swear to defend a flag.

Their oath is to "support and defend" the Constitution, which guarantees all citizens the right to free speech and peaceful protest - rich, poor, black, white, right, wrong, smart, stupid, conservative, liberal, famous or unknown, respectful or disrespectful, effective or ineffective, on a street or ball field.

To deny this right to anyone would be a breach of this oath, a failure to "support and defend the Constitution...from all enemies" of the Constitution.

Every soldier (and every elected official), therefore, must be on the side of every peaceful protestor. Always. 

To do so does not signify agreement with the protestor's message or method. Instead, it demonstrates an understanding of the contents of the Constitution soldiers swear an oath to:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Peaceful protest is not an insult to our Constitution or our soldiers. It is a tribute to both.

Sit or stand, watch or don't, criticize or applaud. It's your right.

Well I agree with this. But to suggest that the military  “must be on the side” of every  peaceful protest is actually false. 

And apparently the owners agree because they have the right to enforce consequences if they don’t like their employees conduct and behavior.