The NFL Has a Pretty Bizarre Take on Freedom of Speech

NFL owners, players, and even the commish himself mounted their high horses this weekend to defend their right to free speech from the criticism of President Donald Trump. Apparently not aware that the majority of their fans – and the majority of American citizens – agree far more with Trump on this subject than with these thug millionaires who want to make a spectacle of themselves, they’ve decided that they will back the “constitutional rights” of the players until the cows come home. Or, you know, until fans stop coming through the turnstiles. Which may be sooner than they think.

The idea that a private company like the NFL has to uphold the “constitutional rights” of their players on the field is, of course, absurd. By that reckoning, you could just throw out the whole rule book, since a player could claim that any rules they broke were just a manifestation of their right to free expression. Let’s please not forget that this is the same league that cracked down on excessive touchdown celebrations not that long ago, so let’s be serious.

In fact, we don’t even have to go that far to show how twisted the NFL’s take on free speech really is. We can just look to last year, where the NFL threatened to fine players who wanted to pay tribute to the five Dallas police officers killed by a Black Lives Matter psychopath. The Cowboys wanted to wear a small decal on their helmets honoring the fallen officers, but the organization said no way, Jose.

A few months later, some players wanted to pay tribute to the Americans who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks. Tennessee linebacker Avery Williamson was one of those who wanted to wear a special pair of cleats to memorialize the victims, but the demonstrations were once again shut down by league officials. Suddenly, the NFL’s uniform code was more important than the players’ right to free speech.

Or what about in 2013, when Chicago wide receiver Brandon Marshall wore green shoes to draw awareness to the issue of mental health? He was fined more than $5,000 for exercising his constitutional rights.

The examples go on and on. The NFL has been very selective in when and where they allow these supposed constitutional rights, and we find it interesting that they seem to show much more support for anti-American, anti-police demonstrations than their opposite. Extremely interesting.

Fans are beginning to wise up and realize exactly what they’re supporting when they give their money to this organization. The NFL should have gotten out in front of this disaster when they had the chance. After Sunday’s shameful displays, many fans may not be coming back.