As the National Football League again kicks off its new year the question of who will kneel for the national anthem and who will stand has morphed into an even bigger political issue with the recent riots and demonstrations causing sympathy for the kind of individuals that would typically be shunned for their violence.
Along with kneeling for the anthem, some players have taken it upon themselves to further involve their television time in a divisive political issue and wear the names of individuals show by police, such as rapists and drug addicts.
One player, however, has taken a different route and is wearing the name of a fallen former police officer who died trying to defend private property from some of the rampant riots and looting that was taking place earlier.
Hamilton County Ohio GOP Chairman Alex Triantafilou tweeted about the choice saying on Aug 31st that he “Got some very good news from former @Bengals player/current @Jaguars player @tylereifert that he will honor fallen police officer David Dorns on his helmet. Always been a fan of Tyler’s and God bless him!”
According to the Daily Caller Eifert wor Dorn’s name on his helmet during their Sunday game against the Colts in honor of the former officer that died in June during the riots in St Louis.
“This is a 100% pure class move from Eifert, and there’s no other way to put it,” The Daily Caller said. “The NFL is letting players wear helmet decals with the names of people impacted by ‘systemic racism,’ and it’s obviously become super political.”
Dorn, as the Daily Caller also noted, however, wasn’t the victim of racist violence, just typical violence by those motivated by personal gain. Demonstrations devolved into riots, and arson and murder and all manner of violence that the same group claims to shun.
The semantics of whether pro-football players should be allowed to kneel during the national anthem is a lilly that has been gilded for years at this point. But the idea of players wearing the names of rapists as they go into play or the glorification of drug addicts who were the victim of their own terrible choices is not going to slow down police from doing their jobs or make the cause seem more worthy.
“David Dorn did nothing wrong other than simply exist during a riot, and he was savagely killed,” the Daily Caller report said. “Why didn’t more players wear his name? “In all seriousness, this is an incredibly brave move from Eifert. To honor a police officer in an era where it’s not popular at all in sports is about one of the bravest things you could do.”
It’s as yet unknown whether players will continue to have essentially free reign as to what they can honor during their prestigious jobs at the center of national attention. However, the recent shooting of two more officers at point-blank range in Los Angeles is a stark reminder that violence against police is on-going.
There is no doubt room for improvement among law enforcement who’s station of authority should keep them to a very high standard. However, the people of color who feel they’re being unfairly profiled might have a greater gain in equality in everyone’s mind if those who associate themselves with them were less deadly.
Is it unfair to look like someone who has done terrible things? Yes, but you don’t see me going around claiming you should treat everyone in my family better because I happen to look like my siblings. You see my griping at my siblings.
