As Iāve written before Vince Lombardi once said, āWinning isnāt a sometime thing, itās an all the time thing.ā And Iāve also written before to paraphrase Lombardi, āPatriotism isnāt a sometime thing, itās an all the time thing.ā
So again, full disclosure never been a big fan of our president, Donald Trump, as a person. And to be totally honest ever since Trump disparaged a war hero and POW in John McCain and said things like āour military is a disaster,ā I have a hard time with Trump lecturing me or anyone else on patriotism. Again, patriotism isnāt a sometime thing. Itās an all the time thing. You canāt pick and choose your patriotism.
And we need to get our priorities straight. The NFL has looked the other way on a lot of issues such as concussions and domestic abuse, billionaire owners have exploited their fans by asking for the taxpayers to fund their stadiums ā and then they move their teams ā and this is the issue that makes us tell the NFL enough is enough.
As far as my patriotism is concerned, Iām a lot more embarrassed by Ryan Lochte than Colin Kaepernick. As Iāve written before, when Lochte was chosen to be on āDancing With the Stars,ā I boycotted the show even though I had never watched the show in the first place.
As far as Kaepernick and all the other NFL players who choose not to stand for the national anthem as Red Smith, my favorite columnist who we named this column in his honor, once wrote, I can see both sides. I can see the side of those, particularly those who served in our military, who are offended by what they see as a lack of respect for our flag and country ā and the sacrifice they made. But I can also see the side of the players who believe too many arenāt being treated with dignity nor receive justice. And isnāt that what this is all about? Again, Iāve written this before we all want the same thing and actually have more in common than we think. We all want to be treated with dignity and we all want justice.
As a patriot, thatās the America I want.
ā Charles Whisnand