You graduated high school in 2011. Your teenage years were a struggle. You grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.
Your mother was the leader of the family and worked tirelessly to keep a roof over your head and food on your plate.
Academics were a struggle for you and your grades were mediocre at best.
The only thing that made you stand out is you weighed 225 lbs and could run 40 yards in 4.2 seconds while carrying a football.
Your best friend was just like you, except he didn’t play football. Instead of going to football practice after school, he went to work at McDonalds for minimum wage.
You were recruited by all the big colleges and spent every weekend of your senior year making visits to universities where coaches and boosters tried to convince you their school was best. They laid out the red carpet for you.
Your best friend worked double shifts at Mickey D’s. College was not an option for him.
On the day you signed with Big State University, your best friend signed paperwork with his Army recruiter.
You went to summer workouts. He went to basic training.
You spent the next four years living in the athletic dorm, eating at the training table. You spent your Saturdays on the football field, cheered on by adoring fans.
Tutors attended to your every academic need. You attended class when you felt like it.
Sure, you worked hard. You lifted weights, ran sprints, studied plays, and soon became one of the top football players in the country.
Your best friend was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division.
While you were in college, he deployed to Iraq once and Afghanistan twice.
He became a Sergeant and led a squad of 19 year old soldiers who grew up just like he did.
He shed his blood in Afghanistan and watched young American's give their lives, limbs, and innocence for the USA.
You went to the NFL combine and scored off the charts. You hired an agent and waited for draft day.
You were drafted in the first round and your agent immediately went to work, ensuring that you received the most money possible.
You signed for $16 million although you had never played a single down of professional football.
Your best friend re-enlisted in the Army for four more years. As a combat tested sergeant, he will be paid $32,000 per year.
You will drive a Ferrari on the streets of South Beach. He will ride in the back of a Blackhawk helicopter with 10 other combat loaded soldiers.
You will sleep at the Ritz. He will dig a hole in the ground and try to sleep.
You will “make it rain” in the clubhouse. He will pray for rain as the temperature reaches 120 degrees.
On Sunday, you will run into a stadium as tens of thousands of fans cheer and yell your name.
For your best friend, there is little difference between Sunday and any other day of the week. There are no adoring fans.
There are only people trying to kill him and his soldiers. Every now and then, he and his soldiers leave the front lines and “go to the rear” to rest.
He might be lucky enough to catch an NFL game on TV. When the National Anthem plays and you take a knee, he will jump to his feet and salute the television.
While you protest the unfairness of life in the United States, he will give thanks to God that he has the honor of defending his great country.
To the players of the NFL:
We are the people who buy your tickets, watch you on TV, and wear your jerseys.
We anxiously wait for Sundays so we can cheer for you and marvel at your athleticism.
Although we love to watch you play, we care little about your opinions until you offend us.
You have the absolute right to express yourselves, but we have the absolute right to boycott you.
We have tolerated your drug use and DUIs, your domestic violence, and your vulgar displays of wealth.
We should be ashamed for putting our admiration of your physical skills before what is morally right.
But now you have gone too far.
You have insulted our flag, our country, our soldiers, our police officers, and our veterans.
You are living the American dream, yet you disparage our great country.
I am done with NFL football and encourage all like minded Americans to boycott the NFL as well.
National boycott of the NFL for Sunday November 12th, Veterans Day Weekend.
Boycott all football telecast, all fans, all ticket holders, stay away from attending any games, let them play to empty stadiums.
Already doing that.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, thanks for the cheaper tickets. While you continue to be preoccupied with trivial pursuits such as these, Trump and his cronies further erode your rights, further implant their shell companies into our democracy and further erode that democracy. But hey, you sure did protest that foosball hyuck!
ReplyDeleteHavent watched in two years and I was a die hard Eagles fan!
ReplyDeleteI thought protests were for snowflakes?
DeleteI love to watch football and cheer for my favorite team the Pittsburgh Steelers, but if these millionaire bastards keep this up I will refuse to watch!
ReplyDeleteJust saying.
ReplyDeleteNFL needs to have its employees toe the line and show proper respect on game day. What they do 'off the clock' is between them and their employers.
I've followed a team for decades, and they've done pretty well in this situation but the league needs to abandon its pink hat and start wearing a jock again. I found lots of interesting things to do last year and I'm happy to miss NFL again if they don't set this right.
Damn right - no more National Felon League - will never watch again
ReplyDeleteI don’t know who wrote this, but hip, hip, hooray! Is it okay to share this?
ReplyDeleteThe date for the boycott this year should be SUNDAY NOVEMBER 11th VETERANS DAY--- NOT SUNDAY NOV 12th VETERANS DAY WEEKEND
ReplyDeleteTHE ARTICLE IS DATED WRONG
Who cares about the NFL ?
ReplyDeleteI'm a NFL Never Again!! I have boycotted since Kapernick kneeled. I support our military, law enforcement, first responders, and veterans with all my heart!! God Bless America ♥️πΊπ²♥️πΊπ²♥️πΊπ²
ReplyDeleteI was a Huge Ravens fan. Nevermore!! Love my country way more than football!!!
ReplyDeleteThe NFL is the entity that has made more blacks into multimillionaires then any other and leave it to blacks to screw that up like they screw up everything they get their hands in. The truly are a cursed race who don't have the brains God gave them. The boycotts coming and we will take you too your knees and it won't be a knee in protest. They want to play-we will play they they will lose. That's a guarantee.
ReplyDeleteAw, are you a bitter old white man. Cant handle seeing a black man with money? I guess it's fine when it's a white boy with no brains playing out on that field?
DeleteNo it's the mentality of someone doing something so simple as scoring a touchdown and getting down on all fours acting like their a dog pissing. No that's Character and class there
DeleteAnd I'm sure you're an absolute saint there yourself.
DeleteAMEN to this!!
ReplyDeletei stopped watching 10 years ago when i realized it was all rigged, it`s no better than that professional wrestling crap. but i guess the same retards that watch and fund pro wrestling will watch and fund the nfl.
ReplyDeletei have better things to do.
Conservatives: NFL players must respect the flag and our soldiers!
ReplyDeleteAlso Conservatives: I will NEVER fly my flag half staff for a deceased military vet, POW and Congressman.
Hypocrites, the lot of you.
Interesting point. Trump told them to do both so what do you expect? Mindless
DeleteAll the crap is Roger Godell's fault.
ReplyDelete@3:57 you got it!! Too much money involved in sports betting for it not to be fixed
ReplyDeleteI served therefore I STAND!! F*** the NFL and any of you babies that think it's cool to disrespect the memory of people killed in action
ReplyDeleteThey are being paid to do a job. While on work hours they should to what the boss tells them to do. If they worked for me and kneeled they would not play at all.
ReplyDelete11:24 that’s why they don’t work for you HAHAHAHAHA
ReplyDelete