Noted horseman of the apocalypse Donald Trump gave a long speech at a rally at Alabama on Friday night, and by the time he had finished, the NFL had been infected with his poisonous rhetoric. Trump admonished those who have followed Colin Kaepernick's lead in taking a knee during the American national anthem, calling them "sons of bitches" who should be "fired":
Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired. You know, some owner is going to do that. He’s going to say, ‘That guy that disrespects our flag, he’s fired.’ And that owner, they don’t know it [but] they’ll be the most popular person in this country.
But do you know what’s hurting the game more than that? When people like yourselves turn on the television and you see those players taking the knee when they’re playing our great national anthem.
The only thing you could do better is if you see it, even if it’s one player, leave the stadium. I guarantee things will stop. Things will stop. Just pick up and leave. Pick up and leave. Not the same game anymore, anyway.
His comments led to a series of condemnations by NFL owners (including one by noted Trump buddy Robert Kraft) and these were followed by remarkable scenes across all of the games staged yesterday, as players from all teams took a knee in opposition to Trump's appalling bloviating about "privilege" and "patriotism".
While the on-field action was dramatic, yesterday will be remembered for these pre-game scenes. ESPN commentator Charles Woodson summed it up:
This is choose your side Sunday. It really is. And what side are you on?
Speaking after the Dolphins' 20-6 defeat to the New York Jets, safety Michael Thomas choked back tears as he gave a powerful rebuke to his president:
With all else that's going on in the world, this is what you're concerned about my man? You're the leader of the Free World, this is what you're talking about? As a man, as a father, as an African-American, as one of those "sons of bitches", yeah, I take it personally. But it's bigger than me. I've a daughter, she has to live in this world. I've to do what I can do so she can look at her daddy and say 'Yeah, you tried to make a change'.
The video is below.
Dolphins safety Michael Thomas started breaking up when talking about Trump calling him "a son of a b!tch." pic.twitter.com/Z4wroPcvzW
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) September 24, 2017
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