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High School Ref Who Walked Out Over Anthem Protests Worries About Babies Disrespecting Flag, Had Racist Facebook Posts
Two New Jersey high school refs—Ernie Lunardelli and his son, Anthony Lunardelli—walked off the field on Friday night in Middlesex County because four players from Monroe HS knelt during the national anthem. Ernie Lunardelli told NJ.com he’d informed superiors he would not officiate any game where ...

It Was Roger Goodell Vs. Jerry Jones On National Anthem Protests
ESPN’s Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. have a great track record of illuminating the shifting and engrossing dynamics among the NFL’s owners—it was they who reported on the revenge motive behind the Deflategate punishments, and they who explained how Jerry Jones was the driving force behind re...

The NFL's Players Won
Wherever this goes from here—continued player protests during the national anthem; actual reform-oriented initiatives sponsored by the NFL; more diaper-filling from the president of the United States—one obvious takeaway from this week’s league meetings here in Manhattan is that the players showed h...

There's One Tiny Business Behind All Those Giant Flags
It has become impossible to ignore the American flag at sporting events. This is, in part, because of the increasingly elaborate performance that is the pregame ceremony for the national anthem, in which the flag works as symbolic shorthand to represent whatever you want it to about the country, the...

At Least One NFL Owner Cleared A Very Low Bar On Anthem Protests
Leaving a hotel in Manhattan Wednesday afternoon, San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York told me that he believes that “ultimately, social justice is not a political issue.” Meaning, contextually, that it’s not a partisan political issue, from his perspective. Or shouldn’t be, at least....

Willie Colon: "Nothing Got Done" At NFL Players-Owners Meeting On Social Change
Following a four-hour meeting today between NFL players and owners on the subject of inequality and social change, the NFL and NFLPA put out a joint statement characterizing their talks as “productive.” However, according to Willie Colon, the former NFL lineman who’s now an analyst for SNY, “nothing...

Jets Fan Who Stands For National Anthem Sits On American Flag
This man at Sunday’s Patriots-Jets game respects the United States and its national anthem so much that he turned the country’s flag into a picnic blanket. Reader Marshall spotted the patriot, who is better than all of us, at the Jets’ stadium....

Roger Goodell Says In The Blandest Way Possible That He Wants All NFL Players To Stand For The Anthem
In the NFL, there are no spectrums. There are only polarities. Star or bust. Locker room guy or distraction. Truck or trailer. Divided or united....

Jerry Jones Thanks Donald Trump For Telling Him What To Do
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is surprised that all these anthem protests are still happening—for some reason, they didn’t go away after he personally ripped off the cause with a smirk and an empty gesture on national television—so he’s doubling down on his intention of benching any player who “d...

The NFL Quietly Changed Its Obscure Rule About Standing For The National Anthem
Having gotten all the public relations it wanted (even a hackneyed Sports Illustrated cover), NFL leadership is now back to the more familiar demeanor of reminding its players to either get in line or join the unemployment line. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Monday that any player who is “d...

J.T. Brown Says He Got Death Threats For Raising Fist During Anthem
Tampa Bay Lightning winger J.T. Brown revealed in a statement on Twitter that he has received death threats after he raised his fist while standing for the national anthem before a game on Saturday....
![Fragile Stooge Mike Pence Walks Out Of 49ers-Colts Because Of Anthem Demonstration [Updates]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/twmsgnumiqvjhjagzgja.jpg)
Fragile Stooge Mike Pence Walks Out Of 49ers-Colts Because Of Anthem Demonstration [Updates]
Mike Pence, a cauliflower that was once victimized by the movie Mulan, claimed that he walked out of today’s 49ers-Colts game, because the players supposedly disrespected the troops during the rote nationalistic pre-game ceremony. While the Colts stood arm-in-arm during the anthem, a reported 23 mem...

The World Series National Anthem That Infuriated America
The current crop of athletes protesting during the national anthem has roots at the 1968 Olympics, with the Black Power salute of Tommie Smith and John Carlos after they finished first and third, respectively, in the 200 meters. John Dominis’s famous photograph of the two U.S. sprinters on the medal...

Terrelle Pryor Says Heckler Called Him The N-Word<em></em>
After TMZ Sports posted a video in which Washington Redskins wide receiver Terrelle Pryor gave the middle finger to a heckler on Monday night, Pryor has responded and explained his actions. In an Instagram story today, Pryor wrote that a heckler called him the n-word “several times,” to the extent t...

Marshawn Lynch Stays Hidden For The National Anthem
Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, who habitually sits during the national anthem, was obscured by Raiders personnel during the anthem today before the game between Oakland and the Denver Broncos. With the way staff formed around Lynch, it would have been nearly impossible to notice him si...

Ravens Fans Boo A Prayer Before The National Anthem
As the meaning of national anthem demonstrations has shifted from a specific protest against racial injustice and police brutality to a vague stand of unity, it seems that now, some NFL fans have been conditioned to boo any time they see a player taking a knee....

NBA Memo Warns Teams And Players Not To Protest During The National Anthem
According to a report from ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the NBA sent a memo to its teams this evening “reinforcing” the existing rule requiring players and coaches to stand during the national anthem. This echoes remarks made by commissioner Adam Silver yesterday, when he said he expects NBA players not to kne...

Louisiana High School Threatens To Punish Athletes Who Don't Stand For National Anthem
This morning, Waylon Bates, the principal of Parkway High School in Bossier Parish, La., sent a letter to the students and parents of his school warning that any athletes who did not “stand in a respectful manner” during the pre-game national anthem would be subject to disciplinary action. He made i...

Packers Ask Fans To Link Arms During Anthem, Shift Focus From Diversity To "UNI-versity"
Behold, another move to co-opt a crude outline of Colin Kaepernick’s protest, divorce it of any meaning or purpose, and cash it in for a branding opportunity. The Green Bay Packers released a statement tonight asking their fans to link arms in a display of unity during the national anthem before Th...

Lou Holtz: I Basically Know What It's Like To Be A Black Man Targeted By Police<em></em>
During my nightly viewing of Fox News, a familiar nasally, barely comprehensible voice called out from the abyss, mumbling, I have opinions about black people protesting!...