Take a Knee?
I used to be a huge NFL fan. Some of my earliest memories are from watching Joe Montana lead the San Francisco 49ers to championship glory. I was the commissioner of a fantasy football league, and I actively participated in others. I coached Peewee football when I was in seminary and subscribed to NFL Sunday Ticket and NFL Red-Zone for years (all season, all access television pass to every game). I would rush home after church on autumn Sunday’s and soak in as many games as I could. I loved the sport, the league, the game.
But a few years ago, I just couldn’t do it anymore.
It started with the continued, escalating and un(der)-punished activities of players across the entire NFL. Sexual violence, domestic assault, and other forms of exploitative behaviour. Every organization and institution have their problems (heck, I work for the Church), but I found it shocking, as I saw the ways these teams – at every level – were more interested in profit margins and wins than protecting vulnerable people from their employees.
Then, I saw the movie "Concussion" starring Will Smith, and found myself reading and researching the particulars. The detailed and methodical story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, who uncovered the serious and wide spread dangers to the brain caused by simply playing the sport I loved so much, and the ways the league sought to cover up and silence his findings. It was impossible to ignore. I looked at Rory one night and I realized that if it was up to me, he’d never put on a helmet or play a single down. It seemed too hypocritical to continue being a fan. So, one day I stopped watching completely.
I was a 49ers fan since I was a kid, and I loved watching rookie Colin Kaepernick lead the Niners one pass short of a Super Bowl the year Rory was born. But, I had no idea the icon this man would become after I stopped watching. After being benched in subsequent years, Kaepernick caught the attention of the world when he refused to stand for the national anthem. It began a movement of protests against police brutality and racial injustice, serving as a non-violent prophetic statement that his country needed to change. In the years since, kneeling for the anthem became a lightning rod for public attack – often resulting in protests being declared anti-American and unpatriotic – to the point that the American President has said that anyone who doesn’t stand should be deported and relinquish their citizenship.
This week, a year after black-balling Kaepernick from gaining employment on any team, the NFL mandated that all players must stand for the anthem or face a fine from the league. Mandated “patriotism” isn’t patriotic at all, it is the very essence and root of a fascist regime. Silencing dissenting voices from being heard and limiting freedom of speech is what happens in dictatorships and autocracies.
I was probably too naïve to the abuses and practices of the game I loved growing up, turning a blind eye to things that have revolted me the more I’ve learned. But regardless of how much I gained from watching or coaching football during my life, I’m just done, it’s not for me.
I take a knee for prayer on a regular basis, when I receive communion, and when I want to be face-to-face with my son, and I stand for the right for anyone to choose to drop to a knee, regardless of what flag flies or anthem plays above. But, the NFL couldn’t stand up to Trumpian political posturing, so they dropped to their knees before him.
We stand for anthems and flags and other symbols because we believe in what they stand for.
If they don’t stand for those things any longer, why should we?