NFL fans boo a moment of silence for BLM: The Houston Texans walk out during the anthem and a Kansas City Chief takes a knee in front of 17,000 supporters at the first game of the new season
Daily Mail
September 11, 2020
Kansas City Chiefs fans booed a moment of silence aimed at promoting racial justice, the Houston Texans remained in the locker room during the Star-Spangled Banner, and the reigning Super Bowl champions lined up for a singing of 'the black national anthem' on Thursday night as the NFL opened its 2020 campaign under dramatically different circumstances than any other season in league history.
'With everything going on in this country, we wanted to show that we're unified as a league,' Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes told NBC after throwing three touchdowns in a 34-20 win. 'We are not going to let football distract us from making a change in the world.'
Not only was the limited crowd of 17,000 fans asked to follow social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic, but spectators were also prohibited from wearing Native American headdresses and war paint as the NFL attempts to combat racism following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.
With that in mind, Chiefs players lined up along the goal line about 30 minutes before kickoff Thursday night in a show of solidarity for social justice initiatives while a video played on the screens in each end zone of Arrowhead Stadium.
Along with the words 'It Takes All of Us'
on the screens, the video showcased Alicia Keys performing the song
'Lift Every Voice and Sing.' It was written as a poem by James Weldon
Johnson, set to music by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, and is often
referred to as the 'black national anthem.' The song will be played
before every Week 1 game this season as the NFL continues to address
social injustice.
The Texans remained
in their locker room during the national anthem in a coordinated display
meant to bring awareness to Black Lives Matter and other social justice
initiatives. The anthem was performed by R&B duo Chloe X Halle from
an empty stadium and streamed on the video screens. As soon as it was
over, the Texans and their coaching staff ran out of the tunnel in the
corner of Arrowhead Stadium.
3 comments:
The NFL has lost their patriotism and lost their spine at the same time. And maybe a LOT of viewers too. I guess they have concluded collectively that they will do better financially by kissing up to communists, anarchists and violent assholes rather than people who actually work for a living, buy stadium tickets and watch their product on TV. I suspect that time will prove them to be disastrously wrong, but I could be wrong. I have been wrong before. In 1963 I bet on Sonny Liston against Cassius Clay.
And you would have won if Liston had not been full of heroin.
The Fleecing of America by the NFL -
To compound the current actions by football teams is the matter surrounding their glorious stadiums. Twenty-seven of the thirty professional football stadiums were built using at least 57% public funds. That's taxes. The remaining 43% comes from private investors who also share in large residual paybacks. In addition, anti-trust laws do not apply to broadcast deals and the league enjoys a nonprofit status with regard to property taxes. Meanwhile, Roger Goodell makes a measly $30 million a year.
It is a stretch to find how paying taxes NRG stadium benefits any citizen in Houston. Oh, economist will talk about the hotels/motels, restaurants, etc.; but then there are the costs for emergency services (police, fire, ems), street and road repairs and many other advertising and promotional costs.
If we can defund an essential service like police, maybe its time to defund a Non-essential service like the NFL.
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