“Tell me how this ends”
a plea to NFL player/protestors
More NFL players are kneeling during the anthem. That’s not really new(s). Kapernick gets the credit and/or blame for the current wave of kneeling, but he’s hardly the first. When the fans yell at the TV or radio (or their digital-screens-of-all-shapes-and-sizes) to just “stick to sports” I wonder when that “sticking to sports” ever really took place.
- Muhammad Ali refused to stick to sports.
- Jim Brown refused to stick to sports.
- Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby tried to stick to sports, but got dragged into wider social issues.
- Tommie Smith & John Carlos refused to stick to sports.
- Even more recently, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly Chris Jackson) refused to stick to sports, and neither did Megan Rapinoe.
- Do you think Bill Russell would’ve liked to just stick to sports?
It’s not just Americans, either. If you think Olympic boycotts and protests started in 1980 when the US refused to go to Moscow and the 1984 retaliation in LA, you weren’t paying attention to 1960, or 1908. And you should really read about the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
So the current wave of social awareness and activism isn’t a new thing for athletes. Hardly.
Now, I have not experienced any of the racial animosity that many of the aggrieved players are protesting, so I won’t pretend to understand what they’re going through. I can’t imagine growing up in their shoes, even though I’m willing to have a dialog with them to try and understand.
But I do have a question for them — for every Colin Kapernick and Michael Bennett and the Cleveland Browns and Malcolm Jenkins and Arian Foster and Jeremy Lane and the St Louis Rams — about their protests: “tell me how this ends.”

What is the end-state that will result in you standing back up, hand over heart, proudly and respectfully honoring the flag of our nation?
I’m not belittling the causes you support. I think racial equality and heightened awareness of police interactions with minorities and support for the LGBT community are all worthy and worthwhile causes that all deserve sober and serious discussion (something in very short supply in our country these days). But I’m trying to figure out what’s the ‘trigger point’ for the protest to end.
It’s unrealistic to think that we’ll get to a place where there are -zero- police shootings of minorities; sometimes the police need to return fire in self defense. It’s unrealistic to think that we’ll get to a point of -zero- discrimination against LGBT people; people get to think for themselves, even if they’re being jerks.
That brings me back around to the key question: how does this end?
“Tell me how this ends.”
When you decide to stand back up and return to rendering the flag its proper honors, what will be the reason you’ve chosen to do so?
And I’m not asking to be a snarky internet troll or anything. I’m asking because I legitimately want to understand not just the grievances, but the potential remedies for those grievances.
Now, here’s the follow-up: just because I want to understand does not mean I am going to offer blanket and unyielding support to your proposed remedies. I want to know what they are. I want to understand why you want them. I want to see your perspective and find a way to grok the problems we have from your point of view.
But I’m going to make up my own mind on what I will choose to support, ignore, or fight.
And quite frankly, I would expect you to do the same.
Not sure why we’re giving each other the clap instead of the little hearts we used to have, but if you liked this, please let me know. Thanks!

