Couple of Steelers on the new anthem rule...

pardon as I operate on an uncooperative older I pad so I have no links just going off of a couple of articles I read today on 247 sports so feel free to google for yourselves.

Read an article Earlier where Artie Burns said its being bullied and the person or people whom decide to stay in the locker room are gonna be singled out.

Just read an article from the same site and Pouncey doubled down on his stance last year after the CHI debacle that the team will stand. He also stated that the way he sees it, we all have other rules we have to acknowledge this team will stand and that on Sunday you do your job other days you can do what you do.

(These aren't direct quotes by the way... Just my quick take)

Personally, I am over all of this **** but it's a pick your poison across society as to the whole what's right.
As far as Burns goes... Well, what's the difference if you're singled out on the sidelines or being the last one out of the locker room? Other than a penalty or fine potentially, You're still gonna be singled out no?

Pouncey's take is what a lot of folks (myself included) can dig on. Stay out of it and like it or not, do the job you're paid to do... Pretty simple. It's just how things are. The majority of us probably wouldn't have a job arguing with our employer or demonstrating on their time. I might be wrong, but I've had many jobs and that don't fly but we are in a new age I suppose. So here we go again another "is this gonna be an issue with team moving foreward?" Moment.

 

Artie's take is why potentially this will be shut down or at least reworded. As of right now the language opens up the NFL to a discrimination lawsuit. They are characterizing anyone who doesn't participate in the anthem ceremony as being unpatriotic or disrespectful. However it doesn't take in to account people's religious beliefs or racial upbringing. The fines structure as set up says that even if your religious beliefs say that you respect the flag but do not participate in the anthem or say the pledge based on those beliefs you will be fined. That is discrimination.

 

It's all a ploy to get the money train rolling again. Go play in canada if you don't like it here.

 

Artie Burns needs to shut up and worry about his job being taken away. He should be looking over his shoulder at Cam Sutton.

There’s no way this is discrimination. Your employer has a right to keep its employees from costing it business. The players can’do what ever stupid protest they want to on their own time. They do their kneeling crap some other place.

 

At this current rate, this looks to be an issue until the expiration of Article 46 in 2020 as I see it. Then and only then the true steps to change can commence.


Until then Blast, as you said, expect more of the same.

 

You are right an employer does have the right to protect its business which is why many companies including the one I work for employ people to watch social media for employees bad mouthing the company. However they can not require you to do anything that is against your religious or cultural beliefs. You can't require them to stand for the anthem and fine them if they don't if the have religious objections to it. The way they have worded it doesn't leave any wiggle room. Not to mention as Artie is saying it sets anyone up that does object for non protest reasons to be bullied or teased by at least the fans.

 

Well, I understand your point, but I think what Burns is thinking if you only stay in locker room, you get singled out with no impact towards the cause. Yes, you will be singled out if you kneel on side lines, but at least you are making your point in the public's conscience, or you have a chance to.

By the way, I'm over it too. I switch channels if they are covering it.

 

Actually an employer can indeed require employees to go against their religious beliefs.

A Muslim or Jewish waitress has to serve a customer pork if he orders it.

A store clerk has to sell you a Playboy magazine even if it' against his religious beliefs.

Muslim nurses have to see opposite sex patients naked at times even though it's
Against their religion.

This isn't a 1st Amendment issue as the Constitution limits the government's powers, NOT employer's powers. I'm personally pro life. I can't work at an abortion facility and demand that I not be involved in the abortion process. A gun control advocate can't work at a sporting goods store and refuse to sell guns or ammo to a customer because of his beliefs. An atheist can' refuse to touch a Bible if he works at a Christian book store. If your beliefs, religious or otherwise, interfere with your job your employer is under no obligation to accommodate your views in the workplace.

Likewise, we have no freedom of speech in the workplace. If you think otherwise try telling your boss he's an a$$hole and that you' like to do his wife.

Marijuana is legal in some states but NFL players can still be suspended for pot use even if consumed in a state where it's legal. We all have rules in our workplaces. If you can't or won't abide with these rules you need to find another job where the workplace rules are more bearable for you.

Kneeling during the Anthem is offensive to many fans. These fans are NFL customers. Offending customers isn't good for job security wether you're a store clerk or an NFL player. The league has every right to protect it's product.

And thus ends today's civics lesson.

 

This was all predicated by a 5 time draft dodging fool who has the illusion he is a great Patriot. I could care less what happens before the game, it's the game that I watch. Also I understand social injustice and freedom of speech. Some don't.

The players used to stay in the locker room and would come out after the anthem. Well that all changed when the Pentagon contacted the NFL owners and said that Army recruitment was down so we want to pay you (with taxpayers money mind you) for the players to come out and stand for the anthem. Of course money is the key here so the players would now come out and stand for the anthem.

If the NFL had balls they would go back to the old way and have all the players stay in the locker room until the anthem is over. But hell, the owners would step on your hand if they saw a penny first if you were trying to pick it up. That's the real deal here.

As far as people just not watching or supporting the NFL goes deeper then standing for an anthem....

 

Why complicate this kneeling for the anthem issue with a lot of added rhetoric, IE a player can stay in the locker room or be fined for protesting, or he or the team can be fined for protesting, when all they had to do was make a rule like the one the NBA has had in place for decades everyone will stand during the anthem:


Washington Post:
For decades, the NBA has had a rule in place about standing for the anthem — a rule originally intended to ensure players weren’t shooting or stretching while the anthem was played. But in the current climate, the NBA’s policy faced greater scrutiny.

The NBA did not change its policy. In fact, it sent a memo shortly after training camps opened in late September reinforcing that players would still be required to stand for the anthem.

 

NFL players are entertainers, nothing more, nothing less. From the time they are instructed to leave the locker room to the time they are instructed to return they are paid to do what they are instructed to do.

If I go to the symphony and they are playing the star spangled banner at a holiday show, each and every musician is expected to play, play the same thing and play in accordance with the rest of the orchestra. Anything less and they are out of here. And they are union.

Any NFL player should be required to do the same.

What they do after work is there business. During a performance, it’s the teams discretion.

 

When your in the entertainment business, rule #1 is not to irritate the audience. People watch footbsll in part to escape the issues if their daily life. They don't want a political lecture, no matter how bvalid it may be. Regardless, of the merits of the argument, many people, probably the majority, saw the protests as unpatriotic, and it pissed them off. It didn't help that no one could really articulate a rationale as to what the protests would accomplish. So ownership,, seeing that this wasnt good for business, said you can't do it on our dime. Fair enough. High profile players who believe in their cause are free to express their opinions outside the workplace. Just like the rest of us.

 

The NFL and sports leagues really brought this upon themselves.

They reaped the benefits of seeming to be patriotic by getting paid for military reunions and giant flag waving sessions before the game when these things really are not part of the product they're putting on for the price of the ticket. You could say they were monetizing patriotism and it's come back to smack them in the face.

I don't buy a ticket to the game so that I can stand for the National Anthem. I can do that for free on my own whenever I go to base. we do it 2 times a day and I see more service members scrambling to their cars or doorways so they're not caught outside during it. Hell, we do it at the theater before every movie. They play the anthem set to what amounts to a recruiting video.

They saw this as a way to ride the wave of "look at me" Patriotism so they could generate revenue. The average person doesn't really put that much into the Anthem and the flag, they just want other people to think they do. How many businesses have a daily colors in the morning and evening?

 

Much ado about nothing, none of the Steelers knelt last season and none of them will this season.

 

At every game, during the anthem, I want to see a camera pointed directly at the owner’s box. I want to make sure that these fat cats and their pals are practicing what they preach and not just sitting down enjoying their favorite beverage. That includes you Mr. Rooney.

 

I would agree with you except this is forcing people to stand for the national anthem. The national anthem is not football. Their job is to play football. No one is signed to a team because they stand the best for the national anthem. They are paid to play football but fined for something that has nothing to do with football.

 

This crap has politics written all over it and its about dividing the people.
I'm not going to say anymore.

 

You are incorrect. They are paid for what they do on the field from the time they enter the stadium into the locker room until the time they leave the stadium.

 

Thanks you

 

I'll be watching for any ungrateful rich football players who chooses not to respect the American flag. It's unacceptable & still I will not watch "1" NFL game outside the Steeler games until I see players starting to respect the flag...

 

I am incorrect? What part of a football players pay is based upon standing for the national anthem?

They are paid for what they do on the field from the time they enter the stadium into the locker room until the time they leave the stadium? They get signing bonus when they sign a contract which is usually on an off day or before a game, never seen one happen during a game. Some get a bonus for yards or receptions or other football achievements. Some get bonus for still being on the roster in March when the new season starts. That's not during a game. Name one player who has received pay for standing for the national anthem. Just one.

 

Maybe the NFL should stop playing the anthem. Problem solved.

 

Go back to the way they used to. Before the players come out!