The Denver Broncos rightly stood strong against President Donald Trump’s cynical attack on the NFL last Sunday, when 32 players took a knee during the national anthem with the support of the team and its management. We’re pleased to see the team has decided to return this Sunday to its normal pregame practice of .
No one wants to see something as uplifting as sport tarnished by the seemingly endless antagonisms of our national politics.
The Broncos had to act last Sunday. The president forced the team, and others throughout the league, into a tough decision with his profane argument that club owners should fire any player who exercised his First Amendment right to protest. As someone infamous for admiring strength and deploring weakness, Trump should be able to understand that his tirade compelled teams to either wilt or push back. Like teams across the country, the Broncos rightly and wonderfully stood with their own.
But as head coach Vance Joseph noted Thursday, the message wasn’t connecting broadly with fans. “It was making this whole issue confusing to the fans, to the military, to the players, to the coaches,” Vance said. “No one had clarity.”
And so the players sought to set things straight. “Make no mistake,” they said in a statement, “our actions were in no way a protest of the military, the flag or those who keep us safe. We have nothing but the deepest love and respect for those who protect our way of life and the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.”
In laying out our reasons for earlier this week, we argued that players like Brandon Marshall who decided in earlier games to kneel during the anthem did so out of respect and compassion. Kneeling suggests prayerful reflection. Players like Marshall, who demonstrated last season and in this one, were simply trying to draw attention to serious injustices confronting black men, including disturbing recent events where black men were been killed by police and video or other evidence revealed the shooting to be unjust.
Should some individuals continue to kneel, we hope fans are able to view the demonstration in that context.
As the players said in their Thursday statement: “While there’s no greater country, itap not perfect. Inequalities still exist, and we have work to do in ALL forms of social justice.”
“It starts with us,” the players said. “We need to do our part and use our platform as NFL players to continue driving that positive change. Our locker room is one diverse place, and thatap what makes it so special. Itap where thoughtful, intelligent leaders from all different races, religions and background come together.”
As in that locker room, it should be in our nation.
Trump’s error has been that he seeks to divide. Good presidents hope to serve the entire country, and not just stoke the passions of their political base.
With little time to know how to react to Trump’s challenge last weekend, the Broncos stood strong against intolerance — not against the values of our nation or those who risk and even give their lives to protect it.
Confronted by their fans’ confusion, they’re now trying to make it right.
Thursday’s decision demonstrates real class among the Broncos players. We hope without expectation that the president will follow their lead.
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