The NFL’s calls for “unity” call for nothing at all
Many NFL owners, coaches and players called for “unity” on Sunday, without saying what they were unifying for or against.
You don’t have to like it, but you can’t fight it anymore. Sports, culture and politics all collided this weekend in as dramatic of a fashion as we’ve seen in modern sports. President Donald Trump is crusading against NFL players who protest racial injustice during the national anthem. After he called for the firing of any protesting players, the NFL (and NFL owners) were all-but-forced to issue statements.
The response from owners, coaches and players largely revolved around pleas for “unity.” With a few exceptions, owners sent out toothless statements saying that they were boldly and staunchly anti-hatred and pro-unity. And that was the word and the message of the day. Unity.
This weekend, the NFL and NFL owners moved like cockroaches when the light comes on.
With a major problem. Most never said what they were unified for or against.
This weekend, the NFL and NFL owners moved like cockroaches when the light comes on. Not because they’re some kind of unkillable bug, but because when the light came on as it did on Saturday and Sunday, they all scattered – running in 32 different directions, so desperate to appear to be moving that they never stopped to decide what they were running from or running to.
We saw movement from the NFL this weekend, and that tricked a lot of us. But it was just shallow, scared movement.
The NFL’s calls for unity weren’t good enough. They were baseless, meritless, unguided shots fired out onto the Twitter timeline of every NFL fan.
When did NFL owners speak up? When did teams start releasing statements? When the President told them how they should act. When he told owners that they should fire the sons of bitches who didn’t stand for the flag. NFL owners don’t like being told what to do.
Rich, powerful people don’t like being yanked around by other rich, powerful people. So then you got vocal owners. Owners speaking out against “divisiveness.” Donald Trump has spent his short political career being divisive. Colin Kaepernick is divisive. There is division here.
The NFL is filled with divided ideologies. Some ideologies indicate that injustices in this country are so worth bringing attention to that you have to do it on the biggest stage you can find, even when you know that many will misinterpret your message. Some ideologies indicate that there is nothing more important than the symbolism and the undivided allegiances you must show to your country.
Many people find themselves identifying very closely with one of those two ideologies. But they are incompatible. They are divided. So, as people cling to their convictions, divisions become apparent.
That is why these statements all ring so shallowly. Because it was when Trump told NFL owners how they should run their franchises that they decided he had gone too far.
On the other hand, isn’t it kind of amazing that 28 (and counting) NFL owners decided that this weekend was the time to be suddenly offended by divisiveness perpetrated by the president?
Where has this stand of unification against President Trump’s divisiveness been? Trump has been a divisive force in the public eye for years. He’s been the president for months. Was his grandest offense when he condemned protesting NFL players? This was the first instance of “divisiveness” worthy of your attention and your discussion? Of your public calls for unity?
Of course not. That is why these statements all ring so shallowly. Because it was when Trump told NFL owners how they should run their franchises that they decided he had gone too far.
That is not courage. That is cowardice. The NFL and NFL owners were willing to stand up to “divisiveness” when it impacted them, but never before.
Shad Khan, Robert Kraft, Daniel Snyder, Bob McNair, Stan Kroenke, the Glazers, the Johnsons, Jerry Jones—all who donated money to Trump’s inaguration—can all keep their statements of feigned shock at Trump being crass and aggressive. They all saw that before, and they wanted to donate money to exactly that demeanor. They just didn’t enjoy it so much from the other side of the transaction.
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