Renton-WA- Protests have been the headlines for sports for the past year. A lot of players are going out there way to send a message to different organizations in the sporting aspect. Colin Kaepernick was one of the first players that took a knee during the National Anthem and was crucified for over a year. “I just wanted to bring awareness to the injustice in America,” says Kaepernick.
Denver Broncos’ LB Brandon Marshall was the second player that respected what Kaepernick was doing, so he did not stand for five games. Some fans felt like it was a sign of disrespect for the military, but players just wanted to bring awareness to society issues, such as racism, the unjust killings that were by law enforcement, and help unify cultures together. “So many things have happened that affected me, as well as my culture and it is not right. We are supposed to be free, but at times I do not think that is true, said Marshall. After kneeling down during five games, he stopped. He stated that he was getting death threats and other stuff, but he thought he did enough to bring awareness to the issue.
Protesting can be a “silent bob” or a violent mob of people trying to incite their beliefs on others. Ratings have dropped in the NFL, because of the protest. A lot of social media fans expressed themselves in comments or post about the politics in sports. “We just want to watch sports without all of the politics”, many have written on their social media feeds.
Last season the Minnesota Lynx from the WNBA expressed themselves in a bold statement wearing Black Lives Matter shirts during a shoot around. They were fined, but they did not care. They wanted to showcase to the world that America needs to go in the right direction and the right direction starts with accepting responsibility and doing something about it.
The latest player that has protesting is beloved running back Marshawn Lynch. Lynch refused to stand for the National Anthem Saturday night against the Cardinals. He did not give any comment as to why he did not stand.
Sports are national headlines, but so are social issues. You can not push injustice aside and think that players do not have a powerful voice, however Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones is making it known if you do not stand for the National Anthem this season, than you will not have a job. Jones is not tolerating protesting, but what does that tell players that want to bring awareness to subjects that need to be talked about. They have to be silent and only speak when it is in the owners’ liking.
With everything that is going in the world, sports should help unify cultures together, but with many players protesting, it will be interesting to see if this year that organizations could put a ban on protesting.
