Should Professional Athletes Be Protests Because They Re Popular?

In 2017 controversy struck when the NFL tried “taking a stance” and protesting the National Anthem. In this protest, many NFL players one by one knelt down while the National Anthem played at their sporting event. The National Anthem is a song for our country and symbol to represent all of the men and women who have fought in our military. This song is not played just for our entertainment, it is to honor the flag and what it stands for. The protesting was started by Colin Kaepernick, last season, when he was the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He was the first player to take a knee during the playing of the National Anthem, now many other NFL players this season are following in his path and doing the same thing. Many players and viewers claim it is for police brutality and the injustice that is being served, while other viewers see it as entitled millionaires disrespecting the flag and the military. Everyone has different opinions on the issue, but no matter what the country needs to respect one another as humans and be united; the American Flag is a symbol of our freedom and the NFL needs to recognize the National Anthem rather than kneeling and disrespecting what it stands for.

Protesting in the National Football League has been going on, as some of the country’s most beloved and highly recognized athletes are seen disrespecting the United States of America on national TV every weekend. The players’ reason for the protesting is police brutality, you can see them kneeling, raising their fist in the air, or even sit in the locker room while the national anthem is being played. Although I do understand what they are trying to do, I believe that there definitely better ways to go about their protest. The protests started in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, took a knee during the national anthem. When question about his actions he responded by saying, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour”(Lake). While some people sided with Kaepernick most people took offense to his decision to kneel. In him doing this it has caused a league wide outbreak in protest; as players and sometimes even whole teams take a knee or show some type of protest during our country's anthem.

Athletes deserve the money they receive because of their hard work, dedication, and commitment to their passion. They wouldn 't be where they 're at just sitting on the couch all day long doing nothing. They put a lot of time and effort into their futures. Most people don 't even realize the sacrifices that a pro

A big problem protesters like Colin Kaepernick and others are facing is that since they don’t participate in the National Anthem people think that they don’t like our country and are unpatriotic. For example Donald Trump and his aides took the situation into their own hands when calling out the protesters by saying, “protests are unpatriotic and disrespectful to the flag and those who have fought to protect the United States”(Tatum). After these comments players fire back by saying they’re exercising free speech by not participating in the National Anthem while standing with their hands over their hearts. Protesting is a

Athletes have been protesting in ways which are frowned upon by the government. Athletes should use their fame to promote a political agenda because everybody has an opinion.In the article, “The athlete as agent of change,” by Lonnie Bunch and David Skorton, athletes use their fame to promote a political agenda. In this article, Bunch and Skorton list the ways that athletes silently protest in sports. Ways that listed include athletes turning their back on the flag, kneeling during the national anthem, and refusing to salute the flag. These actions show that the athlete may be opposing America and by doing this, their opinion is shown. Athletes’ opinions are very powerful because athletes are often mentors or inspirations to their fans which

Many professional sports figures have taken a stand to end racial, class and violence no matter the given consequence after. For example, there was a time when National Football League (NFL) quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem. During the given moment people wouldn’t have understood the reasoning behind Kaepernick not standing but then you have people like Gregg Popovich. Popovich the Antonio Spurs head coach said, “ The important thing that Kaepernick

Using popularity to protest is a way to get the society to talk about what isnt being talked about. Bring up the unspoken when it is needed to be talked about is a good thing so that everyone can figure out what we need to do and how to improve as a society. There is a lone tradition of athletes protesting certain situations that are going on in the world. Plenty of people use their popularity to get things to go their way. Also athletes have the rights as a citizen to protest as an individual.

Certain people have even gone against watching the NFL because of players representing their cause during the anthem. “A new poll conducted by Yahoo! surveyed 1,136 Americans who identified as NFL fans, 29 percent of which said they are watching fewer NFL games in 2016 than they did in 2015. Forty percent of those viewers cited Kaepernick’s national anthem protests as the reason they stopped watching, which shakes out to about 11.6 percent of all fans surveyed” (Dolloff). Protesting is not necessarily helping your cause if some people aren’t even going to watch you for doing it.

They are shamed for not contributing to the community like fire fighters or police officers do which is completely wrong. Professional athletes are well known for visiting schools, camps and teaming up with their league to make a difference. The National Football league or “NFL” has had a huge part in youth programs such as “Play60” which encourages kids to be active for at least 60 minutes a day to reduce obesity, recognizing the work for our military service, and providing awareness for Breast Cancer. On October 25th, the American Cancer Society and the NFL are teaming up to launch its first nationwide, breast cancer event called “ A Crucial Catch Day” which will allow underserved communities to have free or low cost screenings as well as education on the cancer. They also take time out of their day to participate in programs or visit schools. The impact an athlete can have on a child for just 10 minutes can be huge. Whether it involves providing motivation at a school assembly, donating for an important cause or help run an organized youth camp, athletes do a lot for us to, and it should not go

NFL Protest Many Americans disapproved and were very angry about the NFL protest. Americans think protesting during the national anthem was disrespectful to our military and the nation, but like Washington, I believe it is a reaction to racial discrimination and police brutality against African Americans. In the article “ Kneeling Isn’t about Patriotism—It’s a Distress Signal,” author Marvin Washington, a former NFL player, discusses how the protests by NFl players are for raising awareness of racial inequality. I agree with Marvin Washington because he showed in the article how Your racial background is a reason behind police brutality and how the law violates our constitutional

More iconic players make money in the tens of millions per year. Football players and sports players in general are some of the most spoiled citizens in the country. The NFL houses some criminals who have committed some heinous acts. O. J. Simpson who is a convicted armed robber and kidnapper. Also, the United States military paid the NFL 10.4 million dollars to honor troops by singing the National Anthem and having players partake in it in every single one of their games. Now we have players not even coming out of the locker room for the Anthem. Ironically, players are protesting against oppression and yet they are technically owned by their bosses. Their bosses can sell them, buy them from other teams, and trade them. This to me sounds like some type of modern day slavery. These are some of the many acts of hypocrisy from the side of this argument that supports this protest.

While Kaepernick is jobless people carry on what he left so not just the NFL knows about it, but the entire world. People keep striving to send a message to the people that they care. Since so many people watch the sport the news gets around that they want different. Lots of little kids look up to NFL players thinking I wanna be like one of them one day. Younger children and teens and even adults see some of the best players as role models. If more of the star players in this professional sport of football sat during the national anthem it really could have an impact on society. If this protest could even spread to other sports, that is more people paying attention to the the topic.

Professional athletes making political statements and sharing thoughts on their viewed social issues has been around since games were first being broadcasted and gave these athletes a stage to make a stand. Along with those actions entered debate for sports fans who are stuck between whether athletes should or should not share their views on things “bigger than sports”.This has been missing from professional sports in recent decades but is now slowly once again becoming relevant. The presidency of Donald Trump along with Colin Kaepernick’s taking a knee to protest the national anthem are the two main reasons for the

Professional sports have evolved into one of the most influential aspects of modern culture. The unscripted nature of competition, combined with larger than life figures, like Peyton Manning and Lebron James, has inevitably resulted in people looking towards sportspeople for guidance and inspiration. However, this unintended consequence is where the controversy surrounding professional athletes arises. With such a tremendous level of influence, recent scandals have caused people to question whether the social position of athletes somehow obligates them to behave in a manner that conveys a positive message to others. In other words, spectators, such as Bethany Withers of The New York Times, argue that the influential nature of being a star athlete

Should professional athletes use their status to protest the events taking place today? People have argued that professional athletes should not make a public stand, and mix politics and sports. Professional athletes should use their status to protest current events.