Cleveland police, EMS unions won't hold flag for NFL's Browns after players kneel for anthem

[shockedcanadian]

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. I'm sure the Browns ownership is just giddy about their employees doing this to their brand.

Cleveland police, EMS unions won't hold flag for NFL's Browns after players kneel for anthem

Cleveland police and emergency services unions have declined an invitation from the NFL's Cleveland Browns to hold an American flag for the team's season opener after some Browns players knelt for the national anthem during a preseason game.

EMS union president Daniel Nemeth told Fox 8 Cleveland on Friday that the offer to participate in a pregame ceremony sounded great until a dozen Browns players refused to stand for the anthem, in support of free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Kaepernick, a former member of the San Francisco 49ers, started a firestorm last season when he decided to kneel for the playing of the anthem before games as a protest against mistreatment of blacks and other minorities in the U.S.

"This hit home with me. I am a veteran, an 8-year veteran with the U.S. Marine Corps. So, to disrespect the flag by taking a knee is not something I was going to be a part of," Nemeth said.

Steve Loomis, the Cleveland police union president, told the station his officers will not participate either.

“ … if the ownership of the Browns and the league are going to allow that type of stuff to happen, and then come to us and say, ‘We want you to help us with the flag,’ that’s hypocritical. We’re not gonna participate.”

The Browns organization has not commented on the decision by the unions to not hold the flag for the first game of the season, but has supported its players in their decision to sit out the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

“As an organization, we have a profound respect for our country’s national anthem, flag and the servicemen and servicewomen in the United States and abroad,” the team said last month. “We feel it's important for our team to join in this great tradition and special moment of recognition, at the same time we also respect the great liberties afforded by our country, including the freedom of personal expression.”

The Browns are scheduled to open the NFL season Sept. 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

 

[TomParks]

You don't bite the hand that feeds you, but blacks have no common sense....

 

[shockedcanadian]

You don't bite the hand that feeds you, but blacks have no common sense....

Actually there are white kneeling with them also. Race might play a role in this, but there are also those officers who are black who also are standing against this anthem kneeling malarkey.

 

[TomParks]

You don't bite the hand that feeds you, but blacks have no common sense....

Actually there are white kneeling with them also. Race might play a role in this, but there are also those officers who are black who also are standing against this anthem kneeling malarkey.

They should be on the unemployment line..the owners are to blame for much of it

 

[Fenton Lum]

I'm fine with all of it, let it be.

 

[Fenton Lum]

You don't bite the hand that feeds you, but blacks have no common sense....

White hands? Not stayin' in their place?

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. I'm sure the Browns ownership is just giddy about their employees doing this to their brand.

Cleveland police, EMS unions won't hold flag for NFL's Browns after players kneel for anthem

Cleveland police and emergency services unions have declined an invitation from the NFL's Cleveland Browns to hold an American flag for the team's season opener after some Browns players knelt for the national anthem during a preseason game.

EMS union president Daniel Nemeth told Fox 8 Cleveland on Friday that the offer to participate in a pregame ceremony sounded great until a dozen Browns players refused to stand for the anthem, in support of free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Kaepernick, a former member of the San Francisco 49ers, started a firestorm last season when he decided to kneel for the playing of the anthem before games as a protest against mistreatment of blacks and other minorities in the U.S.

"This hit home with me. I am a veteran, an 8-year veteran with the U.S. Marine Corps. So, to disrespect the flag by taking a knee is not something I was going to be a part of," Nemeth said.

Steve Loomis, the Cleveland police union president, told the station his officers will not participate either.

“ … if the ownership of the Browns and the league are going to allow that type of stuff to happen, and then come to us and say, ‘We want you to help us with the flag,’ that’s hypocritical. We’re not gonna participate.”

The Browns organization has not commented on the decision by the unions to not hold the flag for the first game of the season, but has supported its players in their decision to sit out the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

“As an organization, we have a profound respect for our country’s national anthem, flag and the servicemen and servicewomen in the United States and abroad,” the team said last month. “We feel it's important for our team to join in this great tradition and special moment of recognition, at the same time we also respect the great liberties afforded by our country, including the freedom of personal expression.”

As do I'm sure the Cleveland police and EMS folks. At the same time, their liberty and freedom of personal expression must be equally respected.

So don't whine, Browns. It works both ways.

 

[Anathema]

Actually there are white kneeling with them also...

Actually, until the black players started whining about not being supported by their white NFLPA brethren a few weeks ago, no white NFL player had been involved in the protests.

Now, with the implied threat from their black Union "brothers", many of the dumber white players are joining in.

 

[Tax Man]

It is a two way street. The police and ems do not want to desecrate the flag.

 

[JQPublic1]

You don't bite the hand that feeds you, but blacks have no common sense....

But the hands feedIng the NFL are the Black hands of the players. That's why the Brown's management and owners aren't going to do a damn thing. Further, I applaud those players for taking a knee in protest of all those killings of unarmed Blacks by cops.. You MFs don't even think Blacks are human...but you expect them to just be passive and docile while fuggas like you walk all over them.
The flag is just a symbol... Americans didn't die for the flag...they died to perserve the freedoms that flag represents. When those freedoms and right to life is taken away by those who think nothing of you...what is left? A rag called a flag?

 

[JQPublic1]

It is a two way street. The police and ems do not want to desecrate the flag.

They already have by allowing murderous cops to walk free and laugh in the faces of Black Americans. Thats what rhe flag has come to represent...

Even though many Blacks have fought and died in every war they still are pariahs in many parts of this country. If kneeling brings world attention to the senseless killing if unarmed Blacks in this coutry by people who hate them, So be it. Blacks earned that right in blood.

 

[JQPublic1]

You don't bite the hand that feeds you, but blacks have no common sense....

Actually there are white kneeling with them also. Race might play a role in this, but there are also those officers who are black who also are standing against this anthem kneeling malarkey.

They should be on the unemployment line..the owners are to blame for much of it

Go for it..blacks can start their own league or franchise.

 

[Anathema]

Go for it..blacks can start their own league or franchise.

Yeah. Thst would work beautifully. The folks who couldn't have qualified to go to college except as a football player, who never went to class because they were football players and who left early to become professional football players are going to start their own league?

That's a laugh.

 

[Jarlaxle]

The fix is simple. The players should simply be told: you don't stand, you don't play. Problem solved.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Jerry Jones of the Cowboys had the right idea: take a knee and youre no longer a part of the team

 

[JQPublic1]

Go for it..blacks can start their own league or franchise.

Yeah. Thst would work beautifully. The folks who couldn't have qualified to go to college except as a football player, who never went to class because they were football players and who left early to become professional football players are going to start their own league?

That's a laugh.

Here's another laugh. White guys who own teams and franchises probably didn't go to college either. Nor did they play football at all. News flash! There are some capable blacks out there with management skills and business acumen. Blacks like Oprah, Dwyane
Johnson or other celebrities could be owners. A consortium of wealthy Blacks could pool their intellectual and financial resources to buy franchises and hire the best of those football players to play for them. And they don't even have to do it in America.
Mexico or Canada would welcome them. And the flags of those countries would be far easier to stand for ...that is... for some Blacks who know history..

 

[JQPublic1]

Jerry Jones of the Cowboys had the right idea: take a knee and youre no longer a part of the team

Then so be it. The Black talent in that franchise can play elsewhere.. although we know what happened to Colin Kaepernick.
but he is being blackballed as a lone "willie lynch" example. If Black and White players unite in solidariy and take a knee during the national anthem...what then? And if fans start to join them...what then?

In the end it all comes down to principles. The outcome depends on which side bends under economic pressure and abandons their principles for money.

Patrick Henry's immortal words are aptly applied to the kneeling protestors:

"Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

This quote from Thomas Payne nailed it:

"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated."

 

[Anathema]

Here's another laugh. White guys who own teams and franchises probably didn't go to college either. Nor did they play football at all.

They have business experience, and most of them DO have college degrees. More importantly, they have an existing League model to work within.

News flash! There are some capable blacks out there with management skills and business acumen. Blacks like Oprah, Dwyane Johnson or other celebrities could be owners. A consortium of wealthy Blacks could pool their intellectual and financial resources to buy franchises and hire the best of those football players to play for them.....

How much does Oprah know about football? Dwayne is a Hawaiian native, not black. Why would affluent blacks support a venture that's extremely unlikely to succeed? The NFL is one of the largest business ventures in the country, with almost a century of legal and cultural backing.

...And they don't even have to do it in America.

Mexico or Canada would welcome them. And the flags of those countries would be far easier to stand for ...that is... for some Blacks who know history..

Yep. The NFL is all over the newspapers and tv screens here in the USA. Besides, the Canadian Looney and the Peso are such great currencies against the dollar. You'd need the entire Mexican budget to pay Colin Kaepernick what he thinks he's worth.

Thanks for the response. I needed a good laugh. I'd pay to watch an all white NFL before I watched a new "BFL" (Black Football League) for free.

 

[JQPublic1]

They have business experience, and most of them DO have college degrees. More importantly, they have an existing League model to work within

So you think only White people have business acumen? You are rather shallow aren't you?
And your assuption that "most" owners have degrees further underlines the vacuous nature of your thinking. Shall I go on?
Allow me to remove some of the fog clouding your mind. My proposal for Black entrepreneurs to buy an NFL franchise would not be to create an all black team...no that would not be the American way. My proposal is a strategy for Blacks to have a voice
in the NFL through ownership. Perhaps the Green Bay communal ownership model would work within the Black community...of course with a diverse lineup on the field to keep all those fans happy.
.

How much does Oprah know about football?

She doesn't have to "know" football.
Owners just have to know how to hire good managers and rake in the dough. Good business acumen is essential..You can't deny it; and, Oprah is one of the very best on the business end of things. And there are other blacks just as good.

Dwayne is a Hawaiian native, not black.

Obama is a Hawaiian native...Dwyane Johnson is the biracial progeny from a Samoan mother and a Black father.
I am shocked you didn't know that.

Why would affluent blacks support a venture that's extremely unlikely to succeed?

You might be fatalistic in your thinking because you misunderstood the concept. Black ownership of an NFL team is possible... An all black team is not the goal...calling the shots in one or more franchises is the goal.

Yep. The NFL is all over the newspapers and tv screens here in the USA. Besides, the Canadian Looney and the Peso are such great currencies against the dollar. You'd need the entire Mexican budget to pay Colin Kaepernick what he thinks he's worth.

Pro sports teams in Canada have been included in American leagues for a long time. Initially, that might be
a good place to get a foot in the door towards franchise ownership. Mexico may be open later to offers of investing in part ownership of an existing team...BTW Doesn't the richest man in the world live there?
And yeah...he is a Mexican...a real one.

Thanks for the response. I needed a good laugh. I'd pay to watch an all white NFL before I watched a new "BFL" (Black Football League) for free

As I've been saying all along...the goal of Black ownership is not to create an all Black team...that would be silly and counterproductive.
Now its my turn to laugh...heh heh heh.

 

[Anathema]

My proposal for Black entrepreneurs to buy an NFL franchise would not be to create an all black team...no that would not be the American way. My proposal is a strategy for Blacks to have a voice
in the NFL through ownership

You do realize that NFL owners must be approved by the existing owners, right? Oh, and teams are available for purchase all the time. I saw two on Craigslist last week. The NFL owners are not going to approve a new owner with a political agenda. Especially not one whose agenda has been shown to reduce ratings.