Veterans Day Weekend and the NFL

This is Veterans Day Sunday where we honor those who serve and those who have served. One of the ways to show your support is to refuse watching the NFL on Sunday and every day in which even one player refuses to stand for the National Anthem. (When I refer to the anthem I capitalize it, which is incorrect grammatically, but correct in the spirit I'm expressing.)

I don't think of this as a boycott as much as I see it as a refusal to support blatant disrespect for the country and its military. 

I understand those who will watch the NFL, but personally, I'd rather put my temporary entertainment second to my sense of patriotism. Besides, yesterday was college football and those kids are entertaining and a lot more enthusiastic than the pros.

There are over 227,000 followers on Facebook's "Boycott the NFL" page. It asks football fans to hold off watching the games "in solidarity with veterans around the country," The Washington Times reported.

Of course, 227,000 fans boycotting the NFL isn't enough to make a huge difference. I would hope everyone who normally watches the games would forgo it, especially today.

Perhaps if you live anywhere near Farmingdale, New Jersey, you could go to Woody's Roadside Tavern to their fundraiser for veterans and their families. Normally, Woody's has the NFL playing for their customers on all 20 of their TV screens, but not today.

One conservative watchdog group called 2ndVote is asking football fans to "stiff-arm the NFL." They said, "We're sending the National Football League, its corporate sponsors, and the television networks a message this Veterans Day weekend. Americans are sick of the disrespectful National Anthem protests that the NFL has not only allowed to continue, but has institutionalized in pregame ceremonies."

The league will not be making any changes in policy regarding the on-field disrespect of the nation's military and flag. 

So maybe it's time we fans make changes in how we spend our Sundays. We can acquiesce by tolerating the disrespectful behavior by some NFL players, or we can actually show character and resolve by standing for something.

Consider it.


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