Sports & Politics Intersect: Reid, Kap, Jenkins and Rosen will not be silenced
“Our playing field is not the place for political statements [and] not the place for religious statements.” - Houston Texans owner Bob McNair
Free agent safety Eric Reid met with the Cincinnati Bengals and left without a job after he was asked about kneeling during a meeting with the team this week. Reid is among many players who are essentially unwilling to sacrifice integrity for a job, and owners are increasingly more willing to show, albeit indirectly, that there is a direct relationship between a player’s employment to whether they’re expected to continue protesting.
No one knows this more than Colin Kaepernick, who still doesn’t have a quarterbacking job in the NFL, and at this point, he’s struggling to even get meetings. This week, the Seattle Seahawks postponed a meeting with Kaepernick after he was unable to inform the team on what his plan for the future of off-the-field activism would be. Initial reports suggested that Kaepernick “declined to say that he’d stop kneeling during the National Anthem.”
No matter the exact reason, it’s apparent that the postponement of the meeting is tied to protesting – especially considering that the Seahawks signed Stephen Morris, who has never played in an NFL game after four years in the league, as their backup quarterback.
With Texans owner Bob McNair walking back an apology for comparing players to inmates, it’s clear where many of the owners land on the issue. The owners still haven’t come to a consensus on whether to change the policy on standing for the national anthem, and their next meeting in May could lead to a policy decided on a team-by-team basis.
Despite the owners still trying to keep players from protesting, players are still working toward progress. Malcolm Jenkins sat down with The Atlantic to discuss the work the players are doing while Josh Rosen is showing that the next generation isn’t shy about discussing the big issues.
This story is now heading into its third season and the ripple effect is affecting literally every part of the league. It still feels unlikely that Kaepernick will ever get another job in the NFL, but he has undoubtedly changed the game.
Need to know now:
Michigan State facing another lawsuit - A female student is suing the university for failing to provide an adequate response to allegations of rape by a member of the men’s basketball team. The school’s actual response to the lawsuit presents another problem – it may have violated privacy laws.
World Cup date for 48? - FIFA is still considering expanding the field for the 2022 men’s World Cup from 32 teams to 48, which may force host nation Qatar to share games with other nations in the Middle East. The problem: Qatar’s diplomatic relations with its neighbors are rather strained at the moment.
Ice Cube, BIG3 look to Trump for help - In advance of President Trump’s meeting with the Emir of the State of Qatar, the rapper and co-founder of the 3-on-3 basketball league took out a full page ad in the president’s beloved New York Times in hopes of assisting in the league’s legal battle with some Qatari investors.
Trans athletes at the Boston Marathon face last hurdle - The annual April event will allow transgender athletes to openly compete in the gender with which they identify. However, there’s a logistical concern about said identification, and it’s all because of an athlete’s driver’s license.
Pro sports cheerleaders say harassment ‘part of the job’ - With a recent discrimination lawsuit against the New Orleans Saints filed by a former cheerleader, some current and former cheerleaders in pro sports talked about the harassment they’ve endured by fans in required interactions. Meanwhile, another former cheerleader is suing a NFL team, this time against the Miami Dolphins.
Kraft visits Meek Mill in prison - New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft visited Meek Mill in the Pennsylvania state prison where the rapper is currently incarcerated. While Kraft is far from the first sports figure to see Meek (real name Robert Rihmeek Williams), he’s arguably the most surprising one.
The British Virgin Islands Marlins - In angling for arbitration in an ongoing lawsuit from the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County over recovering profits of the team’s 2017 sale, the Marlins are claiming that the new ownership group – led by Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter – is based in the British Virgin Islands. Perhaps their new “home” fans were stuck in traffic when the team had just over 6,000 fans for the opener in Miami.
FOX Networks Group offices raided in the UK - As part of an antitrust investigation into sports broadcasting rights, the European Commission raided the London offices of FOX Networks Group, stating that the company “may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices.”
Williams sisters join Billie Jean King in equal pay fight - Venus and Serena Williams joined the advisory board of the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, the organization founded by the tennis legend which is pushing for equal pay between women and men across all fields of employment.
PGA Tour supports legalized sports gambling - The golfing body is in favor of regulated and legalized sports gambling because not only could it get a better hold of betting that’s already taken place on illegal sites, but provide new business opportunities for the sport while also expanding its audience. Meanwhile, the player unions for the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball want to ensure that the athletes aren’t left out of the discussion.
Percentage of black players in MLB growing - The number of African-American players on Opening Day rosters in Major League Baseball rose to 8.4 percent, up from 7.7 percent a season ago, and is at its highest level since 2012. While the league’s efforts slowly bear fruit, it helps to keep an eye on the participation of black youth players at the local level.
Pro-Chief Wahoo fans show their worst - During the Cleveland Indians’ home opener, some fans who favor the Chief Wahoo insignia hurled insults towards Native Americans and others who were protesting the use of the caricatured logo. A highly-publicized pro-Chief Wahoo rally, however, didn’t match the nationwide media attention it garnered. Not even close.
Singer declined to sing anthem over gun restriction - A woman declined the Reno Aces’ invitation to sing the Star-Spangled Banner because of a longstanding policy that bars patrons from bringing firearms into the stadium. She invoked the Second Amendment and concerns over security at the ballpark for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate.
Alabama football visits the White House - The national champion Alabama Crimson Tide visited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the customary honor of championship teams. Beyond that, President Trump brought head coach Nick Saban, athletic director Greg Byrne and school president Stuart R. Bell into the Oval Office.
Nationwide support for grieving hockey town - In honor of those lost in the horrific Humboldt Broncos bus accident that killed 16 people in Saskatchewan, Canadians across the country wore their jerseys to show their support of families who lost loved ones in the tragedy.
This week in sports and politics history: USOC says "nyet" to 1980 Summer Olympics
"Now that the USOC has made clear that it will not participate in the Moscow Games, we are confident that other leading nations of the free world will join in this demonstration that no nation is entitled to serve as host for an Olympic festival of peace while it persists in invading and subjugating another nation." - Former White House press secretary Jody Powell
This week marks the 38th anniversary of the United States Olympic Committee voting to not send athletes to the 1980 Summer Olympic Games held in Moscow.
The vote codified President Jimmy Carter's wish to boycott the Moscow games in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. Months prior to the vote, Carter had asked the International Olympic Committee via a letter to the USOC to relocate the event to another city.
"We must make clear to the Soviet Union that it cannot trample upon an independent nation and at the same time do business as usual with the rest of the world," Carter wrote in a letter dated Jan. 20, 1980.
The IOC did not relocate the Olympics, which put the onus on the USOC to decide between undermining the president's wishes or bucking its own habit of wanting to be apolitical. In the end, the USOC's voting membership decided by a vote of 1,604-to-797 to not send a team to Moscow. Although the USSR did participate in that year's Winter Olympics in Lake Placid (site of the "Miracle on Ice"), they retaliated by choosing to skip the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
As an aside, although the Cold War politics were largely the impetus for Carter's call for a boycott, the USOC vote took place in the middle of the Iran hostage crisis, which would be one of the defining moments of the Carter presidency and a huge reason why he wasn't re-elected.
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