NY Times How fans responded on week 4
Liberation Sunday – Has the NFL surrendered? "They asked us to choose sports heroes over country, and most people chose country."
. . . "The protests were as much about Trump as about racial justice, and that was before Trump even commented.
"Much like the media attempt to turn Houston, then Florida, and now Puerto Rico into Trump’s Katrina, there is nothing honest about how the media treats such disputes. Every event is twisted and turned to try to make it Trump’s Katrina, the defining event in which a passive president allows the media to freeze his presidency. Bush never recovered from the false blame placed on him by the media and Democrats for the failed Katrina response by local authorities, particularly in New Orleans.
"Trump could have sat back and seen a major, perhaps THE major, sports institution weaponized against him as part of #TheResistance, or he could have hit back.
"I’ll grant you, in a better world a president wouldn’t and shouldn’t respond to player protests in the way Trump did. But it’s not a better world. It’s a world in which there has been a sustained attempt to undo the election starting on election night, through Electoral College voting, into the Inauguration and the contrived Women’s March(es), and daily since then.
"The players protest cannot be viewed in isolation." . . .
How Every NFL Team’s Fans Lean Politically . . . "Among the sports leagues we considered, the NFL had the most search traffic and the least partisan fan base. There is basically no correlation3between how Democratic or Republican an area is and how often its residents made NFL-related searches. By comparison, NASCAR has a very Republican fan base, which may explain why its team officials have been outspoken against the NFL protests. The NBA, meanwhile, has a largely left-leaning following, and the responses by its players and coaches have been especially critical of Trump.4
"Making matters more difficult for the NFL is that some teams are based in Democratic areas and others in Republican areas:" . . .
. . . " 'We knelt with them today. Nonviolent protest is as American as it gets. We knelt with them today and let them know we are a unified front. There is no dividing us. I guess we're all sons of bitches.'
"Veteran receiver Mike Wallace added: 'Sometimes when you feel things go too far, you have to make a statement.' 'I felt strongly about it. I will always back Kaepernick and the message that he sent.
" 'After yesterday, it went too far. I just felt strongly about it today. So I did what I did. I didn't need anybody to tell me yes, no, whatever. That was just the way I felt. When I walked out on the field, some of my other teammates felt the same I did. So we did what we did.' " . . .
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