I have followed the National Football League from the time when Johnny Unitas was still playing, and Joe Namath had yet to win a Super Bowl.
As a fan of football in those years the sport was one of my passions, be it pro or college. And I looked forward to every Saturday and Sunday in the Fall to watch my teams play.

As the years went by I learned that football could be a very dangerous game for those who played. Injuries could ruin careers before some even had the chance to truly exhibit their talent.
Much later of course even more profound consequences came to light. From drug addiction to pain medications, to performance enhancement drugs, to more recently the long-term effects of head injuries to the brain.

One grows older and passion for a game becomes tempered by the realities of what can and will happen to kids and adults playing football.
So I became less of a fan and more of an observer and when my favorite football team moved away, it was even easier to find diverse ways to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon (and of course all the Monday Night, Thursday Night plethora we now have).

Yet despite my waning interest I still respected two important facets of football. One as we live in America we are free to choose food, cigarettes, and playing football even if those activities are harmful. That is everyone's individual choice. And two football players who are willing to risk injury to life and limb including
paralysis from spinal cord injuries and cognitive dysfunction from brain injuries are no different than any American, they have the right to protest any aspect of American life. Whether what they protest is popular with some and not popular then others it is their first amendment protection.

In a country that for some, facts are the enemy to be ignored or buried, the fact is there are injustices in this country. One of them is the disproportionate killing of black men by police. And every American, football player or not has the right to protest this injustice. Whether it is in an organized march or on a football field. When the Star-Spangled Banner is played we live in a country that does not force you to stand. It is not mandated in the constitution or a law. In that understanding of truth football players absolutely have the right to kneel while that song is played to show not disrespect for our country but an intrinsic respect for human life and justice.

The owners of football teams are for the most part very wealthy men. And some if not most of their money is made on the players who risk injury, even death to play football. For these spineless men who have never risked their spine in a contact sport, to mandate a rule that prevents football players from protesting does not enhance America or freedom. To the contrary it pushes democratic values further down the rungs of where a modern democracy should be in the 21st century.

To allow Donald Trump or anyone to convince them otherwise only speaks volumes of their lack of patriotism. And demonstrates that is the players who hold the high ground when it comes to freedom and the sacred value from that document not that long ago "All Men Are Created Equal" It doesn't say just white men.  So, this is yet another stress test for our democracy and for football owners all over America, we say can unequivocally you have failed that test miserably.