Louisiana governor Jeff Landry is not too happy about Kim Mulkey and the LSU Tigers snubbing the national anthem during their Elite Eight showdown with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
In fact, the politician is proposing a drastic rule change to avoid such incident from happening again.
Louisiana Governor Takes Issue on LSU Tigers Anthem Controversy
For those who missed it, the Tigers went viral before their meeting with the Hawkeyes after they were noticeably absent from the national anthem pregame. While Iowa was there and holding hands during the event, LSU was nowhere to be seen.,
It sparked plenty of negative reactions and hate towards the Tigers. Dan Zaksheske of Outkick shared a video and a report about the incident, noting that “LSU players left the court before the anthem was performed,” making it look like they intentionally snubbed the ceremony.
Governor Landry of Lousiana was among those who slammed LSU for the gesture. He even went as far as to proposing that student-athletes should lose their scholarship if they don’t attend the national anthem.
“My mother coached women’s high school basketball during the height of desegregation, no one has a greater respect for the sport and for Coach Mulkey. However, above respect for that game is a deeper respect for those that serve to protect us and unite us under one flag!” Landry wrote on X on Tuesday.
“It is time that all college boards, including Regent, put a policy in place that student athletes be present for the national anthem or risk their athletic scholarship! This is a matter of respect that all collegiate coaches should instill.”
The Louisiana politician doubled down on his take while appearing on FOX News Wednesday, saying that “everybody should respect the flag.”
“That’s what the universities should put in place,” Landry furthered, via Awful Announcing. “They should [stand]. Everybody should respect the flag. If you don’t like it, well guess what — you don’t have to play the sport. I would hope that all of the Final Four teams would be out there respecting our nation and letting everyone know we’re united under one flag.”
Kim Mulkey, LSU Tigers Explain National Anthem Issue
For what it’s worth, however, it’s unfair to blame the LSU Tigers for the national anthem issue. As Kim Mulkey explained following their loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes, they didn’t even know the national anthem was playing already.
It is already part of their routine to leave the court after the warm-ups as they do their pre-game stuff.
“Honestly, I don’t even know when the Anthem was played. We kind of have a routine where we’re on the floor and then they come off at the 12-minute mark. I don’t know. We come in and do our pre-game stuff,” Mulkey said.
Many fans also defended the Tigers, with one fan noting that “their warm up drills [and] timing for pregame w[ith] TV had them in the locker room. This narrative is completely false.”
With that being said, Governor Landry and many critics might just be overreacting with what happened. Perhaps a scheduling change will resolve the issue rather than a drastic measure of threatening players to lose their scholarship.
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