Who Isn't Protesting the NFL?
It has come to my attention that the NFL may be in some trouble (shocking, I know). Commissioner Goodell has botched countless incidents during his tenure, but his biggest mistake seems to be unfolding with his handling of protests related to The National Anthem. Somehow, in an era of polarization of thought, the NFL has managed to alienate and upset both the liberals and conservatives.
To be clear, I find it ridiculous that issues like racial justice are polarizing in the first place, and it's not something that should relate to political affiliation in any way. With that said, for the sake of this post, I'm operating under the pretenses that conservatives are opposed to anthem protests and liberals are not.
As I scrolled through Facebook the other day, I saw a post from someone with far-right beliefs (a natural byproduct of growing up in the Midwest) who was officially declaring his intent to protest the upcoming NFL season. He cited disrespect for the anthem/military as his reasoning. This struck me, as in my head, the leftists were the ones angry with the NFL at the moment.
I think it's fair to say that the league's new rule regarding the anthem more closely aligns with the Right, so it makes sense to me why the Left is upset. But now, the Right is mad at the Left for their response to a Right-oriented policy which stemmed from a Left-oriented protest - and boycotting the NFL as a result. Excellent. If Republicans and Democrats are boycotting the NFL it begs the question: Who the hell is going to be watching NFL football?
Libertarians. That's who. Positioned conveniently in the middle, expect a big push from the Libertarian Party to encourage all members to tune in on Sundays. I can already envision ESPN's new commercials with Gary Johnson in a skinny-tie and cowboy boots yelling out, "Are you ready for some football?!". I'm optimistic that the league will harness the Libertarian ideology of "Socially liberal, but fiscally conservative" and Gruden's QB Camp will soon get replaced by Michael Sam explaining trickle-down economics.
All kidding aside, I'm interested to see how many people ignore the negative attention and continue to sit on their couch every Sunday and watch games. If you're one of those people, just make sure you always sit on the middle cushion - you won't like what you see if you're too far to the left or right.