Seriously, what is it about the NFL that causes them to keep making poor and deleterious decisions regarding the national anthem protests? The league might finally get their players to stop protesting, but at what cost?
Slate recently reported that the NFL is planning to let owners “shift money that’s been pledged to other charitable giving campaigns into a newly announced, seven-year $89 million program to fund social justice causes.” Why? Because, they hope that this move will encourage players to stop protesting during the national anthem.
The logical question is: from which charities are they taking the money? I’m glad you asked. The NFL plans to reallocate their donations for breast cancer awareness and funding for veterans to make the left happy.
This decision has moved some of the football players involved in the negotiations to walk away from the deal, and rightly so. The notion that the NFL should shift funds from worthy charities to support other causes to appease certain players is absurd.
Let’s take a closer look.
NFL’S Expensive Virtue Signaling
Last Thursday, the San Francisco 49ers’ Eric Reid told Slate that the NFL is planning to allow owners to take funds earmarked for certain charitable organizations and funnel them into a program which would support other initiatives. The objective is to fund programs that appeal to football players who protest during the national anthem in the hopes that they will cease their demonstrations.
According to Reid, the charities from which the funds will be taken include organizations that promote breast cancer awareness and the “Salute to Service” veteran’s fund. For this reason, Reid decided to leave the Player’s Coalition, the group that is negotiating the deal with the NFL.
The Player’s Coalition, led by the Philadelphia Eagles’ Malcolm Jenkins, is attempting to strike a deal with the league that would provide funding to support “projects dealing with criminal justice reform, law enforcement/community relations and education.” League officials have expressed their hope that a successful negotiation would convince players to stop using their positions as a protest platform. Jenkins has stated that he will now refrain from raising his fist while the Star Spangled Banner is being played.
Reid is not a fan of the deal. “We didn’t agree with that because we weren’t trying to cut other worthy programs,” he told Slate. He went on to explain why he believes the NFL’s commissioner wants to allow owners to shift funding between causes instead of simply increasing their funding to accommodate the player’s wishes. “Roger Goodell is trying to make this as easy for the owners to agree to as possible so that—again, their goal is to end the protests,” Reid said. He added, “He’s trying to make it as easy possible to do that for the owners. He’s going to present them with a proposal saying, Look you really don’t have to do anything. We’re just going to shift this money from this area and just move it here.”
So why is the NFL doing this? Two words: Publicity stunt.
Political Stunt
Let’s get one thing straight: The NFL doesn’t care about social justice issues. They are not concerned about mass incarceration, criminal justice reform, or police brutality. The league wants this deal to succeed because it will affect their bottom line.
Since the protests began last year, the NFL’s viewership has gradually declined. The decrease continued in part because of the fans’ backlash against the protests.
Roger Goodell’s goal is to appease both the social justice left and the owners. This is why he wants to allow them to reallocate funds from worthy charities to support leftist causes.
Fox News reported that the funds that were originally allotted for breast cancer awareness and the veteran’s fund are now going towards the United Negro College Fund and the Dream Corps. Both of these organizations have been highly critical of President Trump and the Republican Party. It’s a clear message to the left that the NFL is giving in to their demands.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with the NFL donating to causes they believe in, regardless of their political affiliations. Moreover, it is not wrong to support criminal justice reform, decrease police brutality, and promote other causes. The issue is that they are simply using these causes to get black football players to cease engaging in behavior that is harming their business. Their actions amount to nothing more than a politically-motivated bribe.
I know what you’re thinking: Why does it matter what their motivations are if they are helping people? Well, it matters because they are taking money from other essential causes to virtue signal. It is merely a manipulation tool that could deprive other charities of badly-needed funds.
If the NFL truly cared about these issues, they would have supported these causes previously, not only when they can benefit from it. Furthermore, they would not take funding from other organizations that do much-needed work. The bottom line is that the NFL has the right to give their money to whom they please. However, their disingenuous appeal to the left should not be ignored by the American public.
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