FOX Sports will no longer carry the national anthem before its NFL games, network execs told Sports Illustrated. With the exception of the London matchup between the Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints, Fox Sports will follow standard procedure and broadcast regionalized coverage without airing the national anthem, noting that our cameras are always rolling and we will document the response of players and coaches on the field.
So basically FOX execs have decided to sell out and eliminate broadcast of the anthem in hopes that it will lessen the protest controversy by denying the players a platform to speak out against racial injustice and police brutality and forbidding the viewers around the world a true representation of what is going on at the game. Over time, squashing these images of players kneeling will lessen the discord. and impact. And FOX, like every huge corporate entity that feasts from the NFL’s abundance of profit, is hoping things can return to normal.
Obviously, the NFL, like many of the people who were initially motivated and outraged about the state of the country, seems to feel like the various protests in Wk 3 that culminated with white owners interlocking arms with their black players, has somehow ended the protests. After all, on Saturday only one New York Giant kneeled for the anthem and the Tampa Bay Bucs entire team stood for the anthem.
FOX has decided to try and put the final nail in the coffin of Colin Kaepernick’s heroics and social awareness campaign and fade to black any lingering dissidents who would kneel for the anthem. FOX is apparently in cahoots with the NFL owners on this one and whoever thought of this is a very shrewd strategist, but it could also lead to other forms of protests being conducted while the game is in progress.
We will have to wait and see if this is the end of Colin Kaepernick’s influence on NFL protests.
