The National Football League might be considering changes to its rules that could include a 15-yard penalty assessed for players who kneel during the national anthem.
NFL team owners gathered to discuss various subjects on Tuesday, which included a penalty for kneeling, Sports Illustrated first reported.
One proposal was that the home team would decide whether or not teams would come out of the locker rooms for the national anthem, and if any players kneeled outside during the anthem, a 15-yard penalty could be assessed, according to Sports Illustrated.
One idea floated in a private session at NFL meetings: The home team would decide whether the teams come out for the national anthem; 15-yard penalties could be assessed for any players that kneel https://t.co/C8H1xFoRc7
— The MMQB (@theMMQB) May 22, 2018
The news comes in the wake of a huge controversy last year that rocked the NFL and football fans, after players began kneeling during the national anthem.
There were several weeks of football games throughout the 2017 season where hundreds of players took a knee or sat down in protest during the national anthem.
This was started by football player Colin Kaepernick in 2016 to protest what he believes to be problems in America, namely police brutality and black inequality. Kaepernick was not signed by a professional football team last year and is currently suing the NFL. Kaepernick and another unsigned free agent, Eric Reid, are alleging that NFL teams are colluding to keep them unemployed, SI reported.
The kneeling protests took on a whole new meaning after President Donald Trump said players should stand during the anthem or be “fired.”
Trump called on players to stand and show respect to the anthem and flag. Otherwise, if any player kneeled during the national anthem, then that team’s owner should “fire that son of a b*tch.”
Trump had also tweeted: “Ratings for NFL football are way down except before game starts, when people tune in to see whether or not our country will be disrespected.”
“The NFL has all sorts of rules and regulations. The only way out for them is to set a rule that you can’t kneel during our national anthem,” Trump had also tweeted.
The NFL Players Association has come out and said that they players are within their rights to do so, per the First Amendment and freedom of speech.
“We will never back down. We no longer can afford to stick to sports,” NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith had tweeted.
