President Donald Trump probably didn't realize he struck such a nerve with NFL players when he implored team owners to "get that son of a b***h off the field" for protesting during the national anthem.
The protest campaign started a year ago with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, As at last week, it was down to only six players, but Trump's weekend attack on the athletes not only cut deep into America's most popular sport league where the majority of players are blacks and many of them grew up in tough neighborhood, raised by single strong women, it also sparked angry reactions from around the sport world and drew defiance from most of the NFL.
Over 250 NFL players and their staffs either knelt, sat, stretched, locked arms or prayed during the "star spangled banner" to protest Trump's remark. Three teams didn't even take the field until the national anthem was over.
Players, owners and commissioners, past and present have been vocal about their distaste for president Trump's divisive remark but the angriest response came from players upset that he had insulted their mothers
"I'm a son of a queen" an emotional Falcons defensive linesman Grady Garret said
"There no SOB's in this league" Lion's Coach, Jim Caldwell
See more after the jump!!!
"Once again, this is a tragedy in this country, that we have to sit here and still have these discussions. I know for a fact that I am no son of a bitch, and i plan on continuing forward and doing whatever i can from my position to promote the equality that is needed in this country" Brown's rookie quarterback, Deshone Kizer
"It just amazes me with everything else going on in this world, especially involving the US, that's what you're concerned about, my man? You are the leader of the free world and this is what you're talking about?" said Dolphins safety Michael Thomas
"So as a man, as a father, as an African-American man, as somebody in the NFL and one of 'those sons of bitches', yeah, I took it personally"
"For me to single out any particular group fo players and call them SOBs, to me, that is insulting and disrespectful. So I think the players deserve a credit for what they do. And when it comes to speech, they are entitled to speak. And we are entitled to listen. We are entitled to agree or disagree. But we are not entitled to shut anybody's speech down" Former NFL commissioner, Paul Tagliabue.
\
Hmmm, this is powerful!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment