In an ideal world, the only time politics and TV would coincide would be SNL, and that politics and sports wouldn’t even come close to intertwining besides biannually at the Olympics. Iconic political moments can come from sports, such as the 1980 hockey game dubbed “Miracle on Ice,” being a loose representation of the cold war. But today, and this weekend, those ideals were not in place. President Trump demanded that players, specially targeting those in the NFL to stand and respect the flag during the playing of the national anthem- and if they so chose to kneel, they should be fired. The head of the executive branch has no authority to demand such action take place from a sports league.
The Pittsburgh Steelers made the best decision today, abstaining from stepping foot on the field during the anthem (the exception being a former vet with the organization). Coach Mike Tomlin cites his decision to the press by saying, “We’re not participating in the anthem today. Not to be disrespectful to the anthem, to remove ourselves from the circumstance. People shouldn’t have to choose. If a guy wants to go about his normal business and participate in the anthem, he shouldn’t be forced to choose sides. If a guy feels the need to do something, he shouldn’t be separated from his teammate who chooses not to. So we’re not participating today. That’s our decision. We’re gonna be 100 percent. We came here to play a football game. That’s our intentions, and we’re gonna play and play to win.” He stands by his players even to create a movement of solidarity. To him this is not a move to disrespect the flag, or our country, it’s to stand up for the organization and not allow his men to be singled out.
If the president feels like a nonviolent statement is a threat to his nation, let him attempt to remove the Steelers from the league- even as they are the best team, when looking at the number of Super Bowls won. And as twitter reveals time and time again, our current President has even spoken out on issues like this in the past, but on the opposite side of the agreement. In 2013, from his official account, Trump tweets, “President should not be telling the Washington Redskins to change their name-our country has far bigger problems! FOCUS on them,not nonsense” Here I am now, sitting on a Sunday asking where is the focus on these larger issues. Flint, Michigan is still without clean water, many of the keys in Florida are still torn apart, and Puetro Rico is without power for likely months if not more. If a nonviolent gesture signififying something a player believes in is the highest priority, there is something wrong.
I commend the Steelers for remaining apart of this, as a unit. Maybe staying out of the limelight will help adjust our leader’s focus.