Why are we so surprised? Why the hell does anyone act surprised these days? Y’all are acting like you didn’t see this coming.

Some players may act surprised, but they saw this coming. They saw it coming because they know at the end of the day, it is the nature of the business they willingly sold their souls to when they signed on that dotted line for the pursuit of fat pockets.

Do these players have the right to protest the anthem, and he flag? You’re damn right they have they right to do whatever they want. They could do the milly rock during the anthem, and face no legal retribution because it is well within their right. The problem however isn’t so much what a player has the right to do, but the rights and powers given to any business.

A business has the right to enforce rules that will protect their brand, and this is exactly what the NFL is doing in this situation. I don’t agree with it, but that’s the NFL’s call.

The NFL has lost tons of viewers due to these protests. They won’t admit it, but it’s blatantly obvious why a bunch of long time viewers decided the NFL was no longer relevant in their lives. There was nothing else more engaging on TV at the time to warrant such a drop in viewership, unless you find bull riding and ice skating to be more entertaining than a bunch of men piling on top of each other to grab a big brown ball.

Loss of viewership 10 times out of 10 usually means loss of money, and there is nothing the NFL obsesses over more than money, unless you’re Tom Brady’s balls with a PSI below 12.5. The NFL is within their power to protect their business, a power that was given to them when the players signed both their contracts, and the Collective Bargaining Agreement. A player may have the right constitutional rights, but when working for a business they are bound by rules they agreed to when they signed on the dotted line. They also agreed to any rules changes at will made by the commissioner.

Deflategate’s outcome in the second circuit’s court of appeals should be a huge example of the reach of both the league, and the commissioner’s power as agreed to in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Regardless of what you think of Brady’s innocence, or lack thereof, that ruling in the Second Circuit set the precedent for what power the league has over its players as well as he power the commissioner has over the league. People need to understand how binding a contract is, they also need understand that as unfair as this is, the players knew what they were getting themselves into, and willingly signed into this league because the money was good.

This is no longer a question of player’s rights, but one of the rights of a business. If getting business back means making sure the viewers never have to watch another player kneel ever again, then so be it. We get so caught up in this game that we forget that the NFL is a business machine that took the game we loved and made it into a multi-million dollar corporation.

The players, as well as what they produce, are products, these guys are nothing more than entertainment, and a cash stream for one of the richest corporations in the world. The NFL cares about money, and as long as there are people willing to sign their talents away for the pursuit of money, there will always be an NFL. We can be mad at the NFL all we want, but these guys signed the dotted line, and people continue to sign the dotted line.

It’s just business as usual at the end of the day, and the only thing you can do at the end of the day is vote with your wallet nd your viewership. To the NFL, it’s business, it’s entertainment, the players to them are circus animals that made the choice to be circus animals. The slavery that built this country may not be a choice, but participating in/watching the NFL is. These guys made the choice to play this game. People made and continue to make the choice to watch.

I know I sound harsh, but I’m just saying it as I see it. It is what it is, and all the bitching in the world couldn’t change it.

Stay classy…

 

Flemmings Beaubrun is an avid gamer and lover of music. When not working, Flemmings likes to spend his time whipping up dank beats for the masses. He also spends his weekends thrift shopping for rare video games and obscure electronics. Other times he’s in front of a TV with a giant bowl of cereal enjoying shows from the 90s.