Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick made headlines in the sports world as well as outside of it when he began to sit down and then eventually kneel during the national anthem. This brought plenty of hate towards Kaepernick as well as support, but the hate is what makes his protest an issue in terms of freedom on expression.
After Kaepernick started his protest, the main problem people had with this protest was they saw it as a sign of disrespecting the flag and the soldiers who protect the United States of America.
This is not the first time a professional athlete has protested during the anthem, as in 1996 Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf did not stand for the national anthem. However, unlike Kaepernick or many other athletes who have done similar actions, Abdul-Rauf was suspended for a game by the National Basketball Association. Adbul-Rauf cited his religious beliefs for his refusal to stand and when he returned he opted to stand and pray during the anthem.
There does not seem to be any protection for professional athletes from getting suspended or even released from their team after protesting the anthem. Michael McClain, a professor of law at the University of New Hampshire, said that "a player's rights as an employee are determined by contract."
If a player were to be cut from their team following an anthem protest, McClain mentioned that a player could file a complain while also having the players' union back them up, but he also mentioned that the First Amendment only applies to government sanctions which could make things tricky.
So far, nothing has been truly resolved with the anthem protests as they do still continue, but do not seem to be shown as often or perhaps they are decreasing. One big reason for this could be the backlash and unwanted media attention it brings to the player's team.
Granted, any form of protest will have backlash, but organizations do not want to be in the spotlight for anything negative and these anthem protests do bring a negative light to the team.
Thus far there have been no suspensions or fines brought down by the National Football League for anthem protests. However, there could be some as law student Michael Schwartz said "the owners still have the option of making that decision."
Overall, the national anthem protests have showcased players using freedom of expression to try to make change in the world while also testing the limits of freedom of expression in today's world of sports.
Sources
-https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-first-amendment-and-restricting-professional-athlete-protests
-http://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/campus.host.html/content/shared/university/news/ub-reporter-articles/stories/2017/10/dif-con-take-a-knee.detail.html
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