Aaron Rodgers Nails NFL Player Protest Issue
By Ken Reed
Okay, this is getting out of hand.
Now, two police unions in South Florida are urging members to boycott Miami Dolphins football games because some Dolphins players continue to protest police brutality and social injustice during the national anthem.
“It’s a slap in the face,” said Broward County Police Benevolent Association Vice President Rod Skirvin.
“We have a lot of police officers in the county who are ex-military. It’s not just a slap in the face to our military — past and present — but to all law enforcement officers across the country.”
Hey people! The NFL players aren’t protesting against the military or law enforcement officers. They’ve stressed that from the start.
From the beginning, Colin Kaepernick and his peers have called for the United States to live up to its ideals of freedom and justice for all. It has nothing to do with the military, veterans, or the anthem itself. Kaepernick’s goal when he began to kneel during the national anthem was to simply urge our country to live up to the core principles that our military men and women have fought for through the years.
“I have great respect for the men and women that have fought for this country,” said Kaepernick.
“I have family, I have friends that have gone and fought for this country. And they fight for freedom, they fight for the people, they fight for liberty and justice, for everyone. That’s not happening.”
Aaron Rodgers, the star quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, recently nailed this whole situation regarding the NFL player protests.
“I don’t know how many times we can say, as a player and as a group, how much we love and support and appreciate the troops, and the opportunities this country allows us,” said Rodgers.
“But this is about equality and something bigger than ourselves, and bringing people together, and love and connectedness and equality and social justice, and putting a light on people who deserve to have the attention for their causes and their difficult situations that they’re in. You know, people have their opinion — you shouldn’t do it during the anthem, you shouldn’t do it during this — that’s fine. But let’s not take away from what the real issue is.”
Exactly Mr, Rodgers.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
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Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
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Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Episode #23 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Olympian Benita Fitzgerald Mosley Talks Title IX, Youth Sports and the Olympics.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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