(09-27-2017, 08:23 AM)UCF Knight Wrote:

(09-27-2017, 06:45 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: I had a friend tell me the same thing yesterday, and after some soul searching, this is how I feel about it.

Ever since this kneeling stuff started, my worry was that this would harm the Jaguars eventually.  There  are two ways to avoid the harm I foresaw, either the players stop kneeling, or the fans avoid overreacting.  I think you are overreacting.  Personally, I don't like what the players are doing, but I love football about a thousand times more than I  dislike what the players are doing.

The other thing is, if I were to react to this situation by giving up something I love, the Jaguars, then I am allowing those kneeling players to control me and drive my decisions.  I don't think we should allow anyone's actions to drive our reactions like that.  I'm not going to allow a kneeling player to make me give up football.  

What you do is up to you.  I respect your decision and I hope you change your mind.

People don't really have the right to tell people how to overreact though, right?  People have been telling the NFL for a year that they don't like how Kaepernick and others have been protesting by kneeling and doing other things for the anthem.  Then, they took those actions a bit further last Sunday.  How did they think the fans were going to feel?

Instead of saying, ok, this offends a lot of people.  They continued doing exactly what they were doing, and not only that, they doubled down this past weekend and pushed the limits even more.  At some point the people that pay for your product that have been telling you they are offended by it are going to stop paying for it.

Turn off the TV's, stop paying for merchandise, return tickets......through collective bargaining the players paychecks will take a hit in all of this.  Not sure they understand that in the end.

I think I love America as much as anybody.  I just don't see why whether someone else is standing up for the national anthem is so important that someone would give up NFL football over it.  

Calais Campbell was on one knee with his hand over his heart.  I don't understand why that would be so bad.  He's not burning a flag.  

This battle over symbols and what constitutes an acceptable level of respect for those symbols is escalating to the point where it could damage our franchise.   It's not worth it.

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