--- title: Poll: Most Americans Disagree With Trump on NFL Protests description: More than two-thirds of registered voters in a recent poll said that President Trump was wrong to say that NFL players should be fired. canonical: https://time.com/4965224/donald-trump-nfl-protests-polling/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-02T17:40:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:54:52.250Z article:section: Politics og:title: Most Americans Disagree With Trump on Firing NFL Players Who Take a Knee og:description: According to a new poll og:url: https://time.com/4965224/donald-trump-nfl-protests-polling/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e69c586a424aed7/6988e0250a4a22333f9d0251/nfl-protests-donald-trump-poll.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 NFL Protests og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Most Americans Disagree With Trump on Firing NFL Players Who Take a Knee twitter:description: According to a new poll twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e69c586a424aed7/6988e0250a4a22333f9d0251/nfl-protests-donald-trump-poll.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Most Americans Disagree With Trump on Firing NFL Players Who Take a Knee > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=a264a928-7c4e-47c4-9d8e-7d3a0fdb0785&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: More Than 100 NFL Players Kneel During Anthem in Defiance of President Trump [Watch (HLS stream): More Than 100 NFL Players Kneel During Anthem in Defiance of President Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oEOuBa9P.m3u8) (2:04)  _Published 2017-09-24. NFL players used the national anthem to show their defiance to President Donald Trump's criticism, with at least 100 players kneeling or sitting in protest and one team staying in the locker room._ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Oct 2, 2017 5:40 PM UTC NFL players used the national anthem to show their defiance to President Donald Trump's criticism, with at least 100 players kneeling or sitting in protest and one team staying in the locker room. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Oct 2, 2017 5:40 PM UTC More than two-thirds of registered voters said in a recent poll that President Trump was wrong to say that NFL players who take a knee during the national anthem should be fired. In [a USA Today/Suffolk University poll](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/02/usa-today-poll-americans-say-trump-wrong-nfl-protests/721809001/) released Monday, 68% of respondents said that Trump’s [call for NFL owners](http://time.com/4960638/donald-trump-latest-battle-against-nfl/) to fire the players and fans to boycott their games was inappropriate. Only 27% said it was appropriate. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/914255264282480640) Respondents were not as enthusiastic about the actual protests, though a majority still supported them: 51% said they were appropriate, while 42% said they were not. The poll of 1,000 registered voters was taken Wednesday through Sunday by landline and cell phone. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. ## Transcript [00:00] Taking the knee when they're playing our great [00:02] national anthem. [ SOUND ] [00:09] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] Wouldn't [00:34] you love to see one of these NFL owners, when [00:37] somebody disrespects our flag, to say get that son of a [00:41] [ BLEEP ] off the field right now, out! He's fired! [00:44] [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] He's fired. [ MUSIC ] [00:46] [ MUSIC ] Sunday's NFL games featured the most [00:47] sweeping protests yet. All but one member of the [00:47] Pittsburgh Steelers team stayed [01:34] in the locker room during the anthem. 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