I’ll admit it: I’m not a big football fan. But when the playoffs and the Super Bowl roll around, I usually take an interest in who’s playing and will watch the big game with some friends. This year, however, I’m going to sit it out. Why? Because I’m disgusted with the NFL.
It’s well-known that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has disrespected our national anthem and the American flag by refusing to stand when the national anthem is sung at the beginning of the game. He has done this several times. He has also made ridiculous charges against our country, which is his right to do. But instead of coming against him as it has done with other players who embarrass the league, the NFL has refused to take any action.
Kaepernick is representative of a culture of protest popularized by those on the left. Somehow, they seem to be enraged by anything that doesn’t fit their leftist, politically correct worldview. Protesting has become a small industry, especially now that Donald Trump has become president. I believe he’s making a course correction after eight years of Barack Obama, where almost anything—as long as it was socialistic and ungodly—seemed to go.
Kaepernick is supposedly protesting police violence against African-Americans. Whenever that happens, it should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But where are the protests against the needless killing of cops? Indeed, blue lives matter. But there’s little outcry in our country—especially in the black community—against the culture of violence and crime that exists in many ethnic communities in our nation.
Of course America has many problems. Of course there are many issues all Americans wish would change. There are things about our past—such as slavery or the way we’ve treated Native Americans—that I wish had never happened. But America has corrected those things. We do it through the ballot box and sometimes by passing a Constitutional amendment. America is a wonderful country that has provided opportunity for millions and has blessed the world by defending democracy and human rights around the world.
Colin Kaepernick should be ashamed of himself. With his contract restructured this past fall, he makes $16.5 million a year. The United States is the great land of opportunity for him, yet he wants to make a politically correct statement and offend people like me.
I doubt the NFL or its advertisers will miss me as a viewer on Sunday. But I think a lot of other people are disgusted, just as I am. I believe Colin Kaepernick and the crazy way the NFL conducts its business are one of the reasons overall viewership of football is down. I hope the viewership and game attendance continue to plummet. After all, we have other sports we can follow. In Orlando, the whole city is crazy about major league soccer. In fact, in terms of fans, soccer is the most popular sport worldwide.
Call me old-fashioned, but I want to support sports franchises that support rather than undermine my values. {eoa}
Stephen Strang 
