President Trump often says….”we will see what happens”… when asked about how things will work out on any particular issue. We now know what will happen regarding the NFL ratings. They will continue to plumet to the point that they will lose many fans for good. I, for one, am gone this season. I watched college football last season and will do the same this year. The NFL’s rich spoiled players killed it for me.

The Philadelphia Eagles informed the White House they will not be bringing the entire team to the traditional White House Recognition of the Super Bowl Champions. Then they requested the event be rescheduled during the week that President Trump will be out of the country attending the Korean Peace Summit in Singapore. The Eagles stated over 1000 fans have already planned to attend the coming Friday event, but while most of the players would be in Washington that weekend, only a handful of would come to the White House celebration honoring them as Super Bowl victors. President Trump decided since the majority of the players would not be coming they would hold a Patriotic performance for the fans and those in attendance. The Marine Band and others groups would perform, honoring our military and our country.

Facts on team victory visits missing… The champions of the World Series, the Super Bowl, and the NBA have traditionaly been honored by Presidents at the White House for many years. It is a tradition that says we are one, we celebrate our best atheletes and their great accomplishment. It has always been a postive event.

Players standing for the National Anthem to start the game also has always symolized a unity of our best and the tremendous positive impact sports has on our nation and on our youth in particular. It brings us together no matter our pollitical, economic, or social differences. Taking a knee during the anthem distracts from this positive and unifying moment prior to the start of the game.

The NFL players fail to understand they are not in sync with most of the fans… The players are now running things in the NFL. It is clear that a small number of players and owners are thumbing their very rich noses at the facts about the knee taking and stepping up the ante. Lets be perfectly honest… the fans, who are offended by these so called ” it’s not about the anthem” knee takers, do not buy these acts of kneeling are about respect for free speach and protection of those abused by police.

To the players I say get your heads on straight. The common fan knows an idiotic statement when they hear it….and your free speech claims are pure idiocy. Fans know players can stand for the anthem at the start of the game and do their issue statements in other venues. Otherwise, the knee taking is about the anthem and only about the anthem. It offends those who respect and love our country with all of its great strengths and….yes flaws. People are not dumb, fans are not dumb, but you players, who are mostly all college educated and making millions…must certainly be dumb!

Recent NFL rules changes are too little too late: Would “pathetic” be the correct descriptive word for the NFL trying to stop the ratings cliff fall….well, there are better words but not suitable for print here in this piece…so yes,“pathetic” ! The NFL has stated their new rules will require players who wish to kneel during the anthem to remain in the locker room until after the playing of it. If players who choose to be on the field kneel there will be punishments and fines to both the players and the teams.

Several owners have already declared they will not fine players for exercising “free speech” and they will also pay any NFL fines the players incur. Well it sounds like the NFL fixed this problem, eh? Idiots all. Free speech is not the issue here. Last I checked…if a company has a training event the sales staff must attend and some decide to take a knee about the police shooting issue during the training, they suffer consequences….likely they get the boot.  This is about rules, following rules, doing what your boss or company tells you and being part of the big picture…so simple. If a player kneels during the anthem before the game and tells me he was praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary and not protesting the flag and all it represents, all I think is he thinks I am a dummy. Fans are not dummies…they get it.

The NFL’s last chance….and best move: When it comes to representing a team, and a so called non-profit (a topic for a later piece) like the National Football League, players are a mere cog in the wheel. They do not have free speech rights when it comes to doing what they are paid to do for their employer on game day. The NFL players make up less than 10% of the college players who finish college each year desperatly hoping for an NFL chance. The NFL choice to save their product and their billions of profits is to fire the players who do not follow the rules. There are 100 guys waiting in line for that knee taker’s job and given the chance many would end up being better than the guy they fired. Fans do not revere these players, they used to, but they don’t any more.  The average fan attends games or watches on TV to support his or her team. It is a recreation thing, an escape from the every day grind of work. There are other things these fans can do on game day….and most take way less time and money than watching an NFL game.

To the Commissoner and the very rich owners… May I remind you it is not 1980, 1990, or even 2010? Times have changed and people have many choices to spend both their time and money on when it comes to recreation. The major league sports teams no longer have a corner on the fan’s money and time. Play it smart boys, start acting like the businessmen and women you are. No player should be permitted to hijack your profits and success over a personal protest during the National Anthem on game day, especially when it attacks the values and traditions most all of us treasure and love.  The fans simply won’t “buy” it.