--- title: The NFL Should Stand Up to Donald Trump on Anthem Protests description: At a rally in Alabama in support of Republican Senator Luther Strange, Donald Trump cursed some of its players, and mocked the game itself canonical: https://time.com/4954586/nfl-owners-should-stand-up-to-donald-trump-on-national-anthem-protests/ author: Sean Gregory article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-23T13:25:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T03:20:43.000Z article:section: Sports og:title: The NFL Should Stand Up to Trump on National Anthem Protests og:description: At a rally in Alabama in support of Republican Senator Luther Strange, Donald Trump cursed some of its players, and mocked the game itself og:url: https://time.com/4954586/nfl-owners-should-stand-up-to-donald-trump-on-national-anthem-protests/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1cf2af72a033ea7/6988df21929fad78a0bedcc7/donald-trump-robert-kraft.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Hosts Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The NFL Should Stand Up to Trump on National Anthem Protests twitter:description: At a rally in Alabama in support of Republican Senator Luther Strange, Donald Trump cursed some of its players, and mocked the game itself twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1cf2af72a033ea7/6988df21929fad78a0bedcc7/donald-trump-robert-kraft.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NFL Owners Should Stand Up to Donald Trump on National Anthem Protests > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Sean Gregory](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:20 AM UTCPublished: Sep 23, 2017 1:25 PM UTC  New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft listens to President D New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft listens to President DChip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Sean Gregory](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:20 AM UTCPublished: Sep 23, 2017 1:25 PM UTC With his threat at the United Nations this past week to “totally destroy” North Korea if necessary, and his labeling of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission,” President Donald Trump escalated his war of words with a country flirting with a nuclear strike. Few world leaders at the General Assembly cheered him. On Friday, Trump got his applause — by hurling his “tough” talk at America’s de facto national pastime, NFL football. At a rally in Huntsville, Ala., in support of Republican Senator Luther Strange, Trump cursed some of its players, and mocked the game itself: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he’s fired. He’s fired!” The crowd roared. This season NFL players, like Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett and Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, have continued the national anthem protests started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick — who’s now unemployed — a year ago. Trump encouraged fans to boycott the NFL. “If you see it, even one player, leave the stadium,” Trump told the crowd. “I guarantee things will stop. Things will stop. Just pick up and leave.” > [](https://twitter.com/BryanAGraham/status/911397671553732608) The President of the United States tore into NFL players exercising their free speech rights with more conviction than he condemned white supremacists — one of whom allegedly drove a car into protesters, killing one of them — in Charlottesville. Some NFL players expressed outrage at Trump’s comments. “It’s a shame and disgrace when you have the President of the US calling citizens of the country sons of a bitches,” Minnesota Vikings running back Bishop Sankey [tweeted. ](https://twitter.com/BishopSankey/status/911410114766229504) “Trump stay in ur place,” [wrote](https://twitter.com/ZachBrown%5F55/status/911407752324567047) Washington Redskins linebacker Zach Brown on Twitter, “football have nothing to do wit u smh.” Others felt Trump’s words justified the protests and social activism with which more pro athletes have become engaged. “I’m actually glad Trump said what he did,” [tweeted](https://twitter.com/RyanGrant25/status/911413138024812546) former Green Bay Packers running back Ryan Grant. “Publicly with an audience. Once again it empowers the players to live their truth.” NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith [said](https://twitter.com/DeSmithNFLPA/status/911545084528746496) in a statement: “Whether or not Roger and the owners will speak for themselves about their views on player rights and their commitment to player safety remains to be seen. This union, however, will never back down when it comes to protecting the constitutional rights of our platers as citizens as well as their safety as men who compete in a game that exposes them to great risks.” Also, in the wake of a study showing that 99% of NFL players studied by neuropathologists suffered from CTE, a degenerative brain disease associated with football head trauma, and this week’s finding that convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez, who committed suicide in prison in April, also had CTE, Trump mocked NFL safety initiatives. He attributed the NFL’s ratings declines to a softer game. “Today if you hit too hard: Fifteen yards!” Trump said. “Throw him out of the game! They had that last week. I watched for a couple of minutes. Two guys, just really beautiful tackle. Boom, 15 yards! The referee gets on television, his wife is sitting at home, she’s so proud of him. They’re ruining the game! They’re ruining the game. That’s what they want to do. They want to hit! It is hurting the game.” NFL owners have thrown their support behind Trump. Eight owners [donated](https://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl-owners-contribute-millions-president-trumps-inauguration-175403023.html) a total of $7.25 million toward his inauguration: Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson — whom Trump named ambassador to the United Kingdom — each gave $1 million. In return, the President has mocked their product, called for an NFL boycott, and cursed the league’s players. Their continued silence, after Trump’s latest outburst, will sting. And speak volumes about their love of the bottom line. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement Saturday morning. “Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities.” Say what you want about NFL players. Their toughness, however, cannot be denied. They play a brutal game that causes great pain. Now’s our chance to see if NFL owners have a sliver of their mettle. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4954586/nfl-owners-should-stand-up-to-donald-trump-on-national-anthem-protests/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4954586/nfl-owners-should-stand-up-to-donald-trump-on-national-anthem-protests/"},"headline":"NFL Owners Should Stand Up to Donald Trump on National Anthem Protests","datePublished":"2017-09-23T13:25:13.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T03:20:43.000Z","description":"At a rally in Alabama in support of Republican Senator Luther Strange, Donald Trump cursed some of its players, and mocked the game itself","url":"https://time.com/4954586/nfl-owners-should-stand-up-to-donald-trump-on-national-anthem-protests/","keywords":["NFL","Roger Goodell","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1cf2af72a033ea7/6988df21929fad78a0bedcc7/donald-trump-robert-kraft.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sean Gregory","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1cf2af72a033ea7/6988df21929fad78a0bedcc7/donald-trump-robert-kraft.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Hosts Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots At The White House","caption":"Donald Trump Hosts Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots At The White House","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nfl/","name":"NFL"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4954586/nfl-owners-should-stand-up-to-donald-trump-on-national-anthem-protests/","name":"NFL Owners Should Stand Up to Donald Trump on National Anthem Protests"}}]}] ```