NFL owners gathered with a group of players last week to speak about anthem protests in order to try and find common ground and a resolution to the issue.

Houston Texans owner Bob McNair has landed himself in hot water for comments made during the meeting, claiming that “We can’t have the inmates running the prison,” referring to players kneeling or sitting during the national anthem.

Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr., who published an in-depth story about the meeting, wrote that McNair’s statement shocked the room,

“That statement stunned some in the room. Then Kraft, who is close friends with Trump, politely rebuked the hardliners, saying that he supported the league’s marketing proposal and predicted the issue would work itself out over time.”

League executive and former NFL player Troy Vincent immediately rebuked McNair,

“Vincent said that in all his years of playing in the NFL — during which, he said, he had been called every name in the book, including the N-word — he never felt like an ‘inmate.'”

Now, McNair has issued a statement apologizing for his language,

“I regret that I used that expression. I never meant to offend anyone and I was not referring to our players. I used a figure of speech that was never intended to be taken literally. I would never characterize our players or our league that way and I apologize to anyone who was offended by it.”

Oof.

Probably not the words you want to use when NFL players are fighting police brutality and criminal justice reform. McNair’s comments just signal how out of touch NFL owners are with their employees and the general issues in our country at large.

Truly cringeworthy, if not actively malicious.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has had discussions over his contract reportedly stalled by the league’s owners as they grapple with the issue of player protests.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter published a report yesterday revealing that NFL owners have prioritized figuring out what to do with players protesting during the national anthem over virtually all other league business, including Goodell’s contract extension.

The owners have apparently seen their bottomline affected by the protests. As we all know, with this particular group of billionaires, when their money starts getting fucked up, it means action is required.

Schefter wrote of the owners stalling on Goodell’s deal,

“Goodell’s deal is still expected to be completed and has been papered, sources told ESPN, but the process has been slowed while the overwhelming majority of the NFL’s attention has been diverted to handling the anthem issue, which has affected TV ratings, merchandise sales and the country’s feelings about football.”

Goodell’s contract doesn’t necessarily seem to be in jeopardy, but it’s obvious that the players have gotten the attention of the powers that be at the NFL, so much so that the owners barely discussed renewing Goodell’s contract at a recent meeting,

“Had the issue not existed, Goodell’s contract might have been completed at last week’s owners meeting in New York, sources said. However, because the issue has become so critical to the league, the NFL’s compensation committee spent about only 20 minutes Wednesday discussing Goodell’s extension, with Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank leading those talks, sources told ESPN.”

Schefter reported that one source close to the situation told him that almost all other league business has been put on the back burner in lieu of player protests, “‘The anthem issue has overridden everything — and I do mean everything,’ one source told ESPN.”

This all comes after Schefter and Chris Mortensen reported last month that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was singlehandedly holding up talks of an extension between the league and Goodell.

Schefter and Mortensen wrote that Jones was not eager to renew the NFL commissioner’s contract,

“Jones is now being singled out by some owners and league executives as the reason Goodell does not have the contract extension that many expected to be in place before this season kicked off, per sources. Goodell’s current deal expires in 2019.”

Apparently, this has absolutely nothing to do with Goodell’s questionable handling of Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension (surely not!) and instead Jerry Jones just doesn’t like how much money Roger Goodell makes,

“One source familiar with the ongoing drama said Jones has argued persistently for months to the committee that other owners believe Goodell makes ‘way too much money’ and demands a pay cut and a radical change in the formula that compensates the commissioner. Jones also believes several other employees in the league office are overcompensated.”

Roger Goodell makes a yearly salary of $34.1 million to preside over the NFL, a supposed non-profit organization.

With beef between the owners and Roger Goodell, the NFL shows us once again that sometimes there are battles with no good people.

In one corner we have Roger Goodell, a man who makes $34 million in order to hand out dubious suspensions, protect the NFL from concussion lawsuits, and get into dick measuring contests with the league’s star players.

In the other corner, we have NFL owners, a group of old white billionaires who profit off the dangerous and life-threatening labor of players and prioritize silencing dissent amongst those players a number 1 priority.

With that said, we’re all for the firing (or non-renewal) of Roger Goodell! If NFL owners are looking for excuses to get rid of The Ginger Hammer, here’s some things they can reference.

Deflategate

For the sake of transparency, I must admit that I root for the team that got punished here. But regardless of my fan allegiances, suspending the league’s biggest star (over some very questionable evidence of deflated footballs) and then engaging in a long, protracted legal fight in federal court with said star does not seem like the smartest thing to do.

In the end, deflategate was a massive L for Roger Goodell. The Patriots and Tom Brady came back with a vengeance and won the Super Bowl despite Goodell’s self-important intervention. It’s exactly the type of petty, arbitrary, bad-for-optics battle that Goodell seems to love.

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Ray Rice suspension

Ugh.

Roger Goodell and the NFL claimed to have “all the information” of the dispute between Ray Rice and his wife Janay in an Atlantic City elevator when the then-Ravens running back was suspended the for 2 games at the beginning of the 2014 season.

Then the tape of the incident was leaked to the public, revealing the extent of the horrifying incident. Goodell sprang into action, suspending Ray Rice indefinitely, despite the fact that it was dubious whether he could actually do that. Then came the issue of whether Goodell and the NFL had already seen the tape, because it had previously been sent to NFL headquarters.

Ultimately, it was a complete PR disaster for the NFL and once again Goodell fucked up so badly that everyone involved seemed like the villain. He has a real knack for that.

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Concussions

In 2015, Goodell was asked about the safety of football after 7 youth players died playing the sport. The NFL commissioner responded by saying that there is ‘risk in life’ and compared the safety of football with sitting on your couch,

“If I had a son, I’d love to have him play the game of football. I’d love to have him play the game of football because of the values you get. There’s risk in life. There’s risk in sitting on the couch.”

As a devoted couch-sitter I maintain that sitting on your couch has very little risk to your safety, although it may impact the vitality of your social life.

While Goodell’s response to player safety is a standard deflection from a dude who is no more than a glorified PR rep, the NFL’s work behind the scenes to stop research on concussion in football is downright Orwellian.

When the NFL agreed to donate millions to research into player safety by the National Institutes of Health back in 2012, it seemed like a genuinely positive step from the league to try and protect its players.

Of course, it was not.

Last year, Democratic members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce found that the NFL was trying to influence the study. The study claimed,

“Our investigation has shown that while the NFL had been publicly proclaiming its role as funder and accelerator of important research, it was privately attempting to influence that research. The NFL attempted to use its ‘unrestricted gift’ as leverage to steer funding away from one of its critics.”

For all of Goodell’s fluffy bullshit about trying to make the game safer, actively trying to influence a study about player safety is some truly evil shit.

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Weed policy

A subject very near and dear to our hearts.

Goodell and the NFL have shown time and time again that smoking weed is basically the worst thing you can do as a professional football player (besides protest police brutality).

The commish has handed out season-long suspensions for players like Josh Gordon (remember him?) and Martavis Bryant for multiple weed violations while routinely suspending violent domestic abusers for fewer games.

Yes, I get that there are rules against marijuana use in the league’s collective bargaining agreement. You’re not allowed to smoke a bunch of weed in the NFL, but these rules are ridiculously antiquated and go against basic logic.

NFL players have such a brutal job, one could forgive them for wanting to toke up a little bit after a game. But with the current rules in place, more and more players turn to addictive painkillers and form habits that will haunt them for their playing days and beyond.

Legaliiiiize it.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has come under criticism from all sides recently.

The league has a mounting litany of problems, from the ongoing concussion and player safety narrative, the pre-game protests, Colin Kaepernick’s continued blackballing, and falling attendance numbers, Goodell has drawn the ire of die-hard football fans, both sides of the political spectrum, and NFL players.

With all of this intense criticism, some have rushed to Goodell’s side to defend the commish. An article in the Wall Street Journal (behind a paywall) revealed that one of those defenders was Goodell’s wife.

That’s fair enough, nothing particularly weird or interesting about a wife defending her husband. But the way the Jane Skinner Goodell went about defending her husband was by making a fake Twitter account and responding to haters online.

Jane took a page from KD’s playbook.

Mrs. Goodell was sparring with members of the media with her now-deleted Twitter account with the display name Jones smith (creative!) and the handle @forargument (she wasn’t lying).

The Journal described Jane’s activity,

“The most frequent sparring partner for @forargument is the nation’s sports media. On Sept. 26, @ProFootballTalk, the Twitter account for the popular NBC Sports blog, tweeted that it was “on the commissioner” to solve the anthem issues.

“In response, @forargument tweeted: ‘Please do better reporting. He is already doing this. You are behind.'”

For her part, Jane admitted to being quick with the Twitter fingers. She wrote to the Journal in a statement,

“It was a REALLY silly thing to do and done out of frustration—and love. As a former media member, I’m always bothered when the coverage doesn’t provide a complete and accurate picture of a story. I’m also a wife and a mom. I have always passionately defended the hard-working guy I love—and I always will. I just may not use Twitter to do so in the future!”

Points to Mrs. Goodell, who used to be a Fox News anchor, for being straight up in her admission of guilt. The fact that she describes herself as a ‘wife and mom’ trying to ‘passionately defend the hard-working guy I love’ almost humanizes Roger Goodell, almost.

Don’t make fake accounts people. You will get caught.

Player protests have been the biggest story this NFL season by far.

With so many injuries, and trash ass play, the product itself is taking a dip but more eyes are on the league than ever since Colin Kaepernick started kneeling for the anthem and started the revolution.

Over the course of the past few weeks, more players have joined in but as soon as Cowboys owner Jerry Jones came through and diluted that message by kneeling before the anthem, then telling his own players they’d be benched if they take a knee weeks later, we can see what type of fuckery that is going on with ownership and the front offices.

Now new reports from ESPN claim that Trump has contacted commissioner Roger Goodell and mandated that all players be forced to stand for the National Anthem, or otherwise face consequences. Goodell sent a memo to the league saying

“Like many of our fans, we believe that everyone should stand for the national anthem. It is an important moment in our game. We want to honor our flag and our country, and our fans expect that of us.”

While the message says that players “should” stand, it’s also been reported that they are working on a new policy where it will actually be required.

Players are not happy with this potential decision and free agent running back Reggie Bush had the most interesting take on it while commenting on a Baller Alert IG post.

Ballerific Comment Creepin 🌾👀🌾 #ReggieBush #commentcreepin

A post shared by Baller Alert (@balleralert) on Oct 10, 2017 at 7:16pm PDT

Roger Goodell has never been popular with the players or fans and it’s for consistently not understanding things from their perspective. With so many other issues (like CONCUSSIONS) plaguing the league, he’s letting something like players not standing or linking arms during the anthem take precedent.

Of course Goodell is also being strong armed by the president and all of the owners who voted for his ass.

It is about time that Roger Goodell of the NFL is finally demanding that all players STAND for our great National Anthem-RESPECT OUR COUNTRY

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017

It will be interesting to see what the player reaction is going to be in Week 6 of the NFL season. Will players stand in fear of losing their jobs? Or will they kneel for what they know is right?

With Week 5 in the books, besides a Monday night matchup between the Bears and Vikings, the headlines continue to come from around and off the field as opposed to the actual play on it.

Between Vice President and noted weirdo Mike Pence making some dumb political gesture, Dolphins offensive line coach railing lines before a meeting, and season-ending injuries to two of the league’s biggest superstars, it was another week of headaches for Roger Goodell.

That doesn’t mean this isn’t all hilariously enjoyable (besides the injuries, that’s super trash) or that there weren’t some fun highlights, just that the NFL continues to be a wild circus of ridiculousness.

In many ways the NFL mirrors the state of our weird hellscape of a country; benevolent and confused leader who may be jeopardizing the future of his stead, Black citizens trying to bring some attention to the wild inequality of our country, angry mobs of white people upset about minorities speaking out about these very injustices, and just general chaos with sloppy play and a fan base that is increasingly tuning out for myriad reasons.

Let’s take a look at what went down this week.

Mike Pence stages political stunt, everyone becomes a little bit dumber

It cost Americans $1,250,000 for Mike Pence to protest kneeling & for Tom Price to fly in private jets

Kaepernick donated 1mil to charity

— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) October 8, 2017

As everyone knows, the role of the Vice President is to use taxpayer money to go to football games and then have a public hissy fit when people try to speak out about issues in our country.

Vice President Mike Pence, fulfilling those very duties, showed up to the Indianapolis Colts game yesterday ready to take a stand.

He tweeted a picture of himself and his wife at the Colts game, followed by a tweet approximately 8 minutes after kickoff claiming that he had left the game in protest of protest, or something.

I left today's Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.

— Vice President Mike Pence Archived (@VP45) October 8, 2017

Because we live in the dumbest possible timeline, it turns out Pence’s original tweet announcing his presence at the Colts game was just a recycled tweet from 3 years ago. I applaud Pence and his social team for adding a little filter to the more recent photo, that’s some good work.

https://twitter.com/sung_minkim/status/917104119403261953

Obviously this whole thing was a political stunt to further infuriate Trump and Pence’s base against people attempting to shed light on the gross inequality of the country.

Just so we’re clear: Mike Pence tweeted a 3yr old photo & showed up to an NFL game knowing he’d leave to make his base angry at blck players https://t.co/hwtqiSpaw3

— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) October 8, 2017

Trump couldn’t help himself from letting the people know that this whole great show of political power was his idea.

I asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. I am proud of him and @SecondLady Karen.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2017

This is what the leaders of our country are doing. CNN estimated the cost to taxpayers of Pence’s brave display of leadership at $242,500. Remember when Trump told Puerto Ricans they were screwing up his budget because they got hit by a hurricane?

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Dolphins offensive line coach snorts a bunch of coke while professing his love to Las Vegas dancer

#Dolphins OL coach Chris Foerster is resigning from his position after this video surfaced last night pic.twitter.com/J5LFL0h4FE

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 9, 2017

Oh boy.

Last night a video leaked of Dolphins offensive line coach Chris Foerster railing lines and talking about how much he misses a long lost love. Foerster even claimed that he was about to head to a meeting in the video.

The long lost love in question is a woman named Kijuana Nige, a Las Vegas exotic dancer, and she posted a statement on Facebook as to why she decided to release the video.

https://www.facebook.com/starr.sherrod/posts/10159564954420089?pnref=story

Again, it comes back to the issue of racial injustice in our country and the hypocrisy of the powers within the NFL and beyond.

coach got outed by the stripper in the name of the revolution. he can't *wait* to vote for trump in 2020. he orderin a maga hat right now.

— bomani (@bomani_jones) October 9, 2017

I mean, it’s pretty concerning for Foerster to be railing drugs before team meetings, seems like that dude needs some help but needless to say, the internet had some fun with this one.

Waitress:sorry Is pepsi ok.
Chris Foerster: pic.twitter.com/wJHCxNXsXS

— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) October 9, 2017

After Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill went down with a season-ending knee injury, some people wondered if the Dolphins would be in for Colin Kaepernick.

Of course they settled for Jay Culter who has been, well, terrible, but maybe now is the time to reconsider…

Dolphin's coach Chris Foerster was caught on video tooting cocaine. My advice to the Dolphins is to sign Kaepernick as a way to deflect

— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) October 9, 2017

Never a dull moment!

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J.J. Watt and Odell Beckham Jr. go down with season-ending injuries

I can't sugarcoat it, I am devastated.
All I want to do is be out there on that field for my teammates and this city.
I'm sorry.

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) October 9, 2017

This is a tough one.

With both J.J. Watt and Odell Backham Jr. out with leg fractures, the NFL suffers a big blow with two of the league’s biggest players losing the rest of their season.

At a time when the league is already suffering from a lack of fan avidity, losing Odell and Watt is a terrible result for the league.

On the same day, the NFL lost its most buzz worthy star (Odell Beckham Jr.) and its currently most beloved star (JJ Watt).

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) October 9, 2017

Before the injury Odell had a typically eventful game. First, he seemed to be crying on the sidelines as punter Brad Wing whispered encouragement into his ear.

https://twitter.com/SInow/status/917107801926832128

And then Odell scored a trademark game-breaking touchdown.

*takes deep breath*

ODELL BECKHAM JR IS THE BEST WIDE RECEIVER IN THE NFL EVEN IF HE CRIES SOMETIMES pic.twitter.com/3LcIrMcGDF

— ethan, enjoying a salad for dessert (@EthanGSN) October 8, 2017

Losing Watt and Beckham is a massive disappointment for the league, its fans, and the Giants and Texans. Football is brutal.

Raiders Donald Penn almost scraps angry fans

https://twitter.com/AntHellaRaw/status/917195734067195904

After winning the first two games of the season impressively and looking like a serious contender in the AFC, the Raiders have lost three games in a row, getting blown out by the Ravens yesterday.

The typically confrontational Raiders fans took their ire out on offensive lineman Donald Penn in the parking lot after the game, prompting Penn to get out of his car and talk to the fans head on.

Apparently, Penn and one particular fan have history.

They used to be friends.

The person that tried to fight Penn (photo cred: @Sir_charlieroc ) Oh what three weeks could do to people. pic.twitter.com/zm7QLoYBEF

— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) October 9, 2017

Then it all turned sour.

penn started it pic.twitter.com/D6V4bjixPc

— BRENDA (@brendezze) October 9, 2017

I wouldn’t get into a fight with the 6’5″ 305 pound Donald Penn, that seems like a genuinely terrible idea, but then again the fan may have gotten a fat check out of that.

https://twitter.com/DPENN70/status/917206754261221378

Cheers to Donald Penn for restraining himself. Hopefully Derek Carr comes back soon.

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Ben Roethlisberger throws 5 interceptions against Jaguars, openly wonders if he is still good

Ben Roethlisberger sums up his 5 interception game #Steelers pic.twitter.com/oAb2LM31qs

— Chase Williams (@chasepwilliams) October 9, 2017

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been one of the best and most durable qb’s in the league for more than a decade now, but things aren’t going so well in the steel city these days.

Big Ben threw 5 picks, including 2 pick-6’s to the Jaguars yesterday. It’s never a good thing to lose to the Jaguars, they are mostly an abomination, but their defense is actually pretty damned good and if they had a real quarterback, the team might actually be pretty damned good.

Alas, they don’t have a quarterback, rather just some dude named Blake humming the ball around to receiver’s feet, but Roethlisberger made up for that yesterday.

Are Ben Roethlisberger's 5 picks a distraction? Asking for Antonio Brown.

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 8, 2017

After the game, Roethlisberger told reporters, “Maybe I don’t have it anymore.” That’s a pretty weird statement from a team’s veteran quarterback and leader, especially after Roethlisberger openly complained that wide receiver Antonio Brown’s behavior had become a “distraction” in recent weeks.

With LeVeon Bell, Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, and their offensive line, the Steelers offense should be an absolute juggernaut.

That hasn’t been the case so far this year and for the first time in his career, Big Ben’s ability is being questioned. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this.

Terrelle Pryor was captured in the tunnel of Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night giving the finger to a fan.

Pryor looked pretty pissed off and while some of that may have been due to Washington losing frustratingly to the Chiefs, it seemed like an especially emotional reaction to heckling.

TMZ Spots posted a video of the incident.

Now Pryor has gone to social media to explain the situation. The former Ohio State Buckeye wrote that he was called the n-word throughout the game to the point that an NFL employee had to intervene.

Pryor wrote,

“Being called a n***** several times to the point where an NFL employee had to step to me and stand by me the whole game from 2nd quarter on is the exact reason why guys are kneeling during anthem… As I walked in tunnel hearing some one call me a n***** and say F you to me … flicking the person off is more deserving. I do apologize to my teammates and the organization. But at some point you keep calling us the N word .. we going to start acting up. #straightlikethat”

You may have seen the video of Terrelle Pryor yelling with a fan. He posted this on Instagram as to why. (Language warning) pic.twitter.com/w16WdmGGe1

— Craig Hoffman (@CraigHoffman) October 5, 2017

The NFL is now looking into the incident, according to Adam Schefter.

NFL reviewing all aspects of Terrelle Pryor/Chiefs fans incident on Monday night, per league spokesman, including what took place in stands.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 5, 2017

This is an ugly situation, especially considering the current racial landscape of the NFL, where fans have booed teams for taking knees or protesting during the national anthem.

NFL fans are predominately white, the players are predominately black.

This has led to tension in recent weeks as players protesting racial injustice in America has been met with grotesque counter-reaction from NFL fans who find some sort of personal offense in the demonstrations.

As Pryor pointed out in his post, this sort of treatment by fans is precisely why players are kneeling in the first place.

The social and political environment of America right now is a powder keg ready to blow and this is translating into sports arenas and the field. This is some ugly shit.

This weekend was pretty wild. Melo finally got traded, ‘Catch me Outside’ girl got a record deal, and the President of the United States got into a Twitter beef with a sports league and its players.

For those unaware, many NFL players have been taking a knee during the national anthem as a form of protest. Colin Kaepernick began sitting out the anthem last season in protest of police brutality. Since then, he’s been blackballed from the NFL, which has sparked many other players to voice their disapproval.

As the NFL season starts, more and more players along with staff have refused to participate in the anthem. Donald Trump apparently took offense, publicly condemning these “son of a bitch” protestors.

Trump called the act disrespectful and even called out the NFL for their low ratings, terrible even…. SAD. With 12 tweets dedicated towards the NFL, it’s weird to think of how little he spoke about literal Nazis walking the streets or Puerto Rico’s current disaster as the island is left with no resources.

Celebrities from all over were coming at Trump’s neck, including Snoop Dogg who had his own response:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZbn8-7Dk1Z/

Most surprising of the celebs to come forward was J.Cole.

The normally reclusive rapper came on Twitter after months of inactivity with a simple question “How you make a thread”.

How you make a thread

— J. Cole (@JColeNC) September 24, 2017

After getting his answer, the ‘platinum with no features’ star went on to speak to the American people about the current controversy surrounding the NFL. As he urged viewers to stop watching games, Cole dropped gems on how we can truly make our voices heard.

Suggesting a private investigator look into Kaepernick’s unfair unemployment, Cole wants the former quarterback to receive what he’s owed. It’s clear he’s been thinking critically about this situation for a while and hopes that others will be as passionate as he is on the matter.

Although his Tweets were inspiring, the fact is most people aren’t going to put his words into practice. Habit is a hard thing to break and like Uncle Snoop said “I’M STILL WATCHING N****.”

Peep J. Cole’s thread below where he also took time to acknowledge Cardi B and give her a calm little shout out:

Also Cardi b I seen your breakfast club interview, loved it. Don't put all that pressure on your album. You already won. Just drop & repeat

— J. Cole (@JColeNC) September 24, 2017

J. Cole says real power comes from choosing not to watch NFL

On Friday, Donald Trump said at a rally in Alabama that NFL players who kneel for the national anthem in protest of racial injustice in our country should be fired.

He used some rather colorful language in describing these players, calling on NFL owners to punish the protests,

“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 reaction to Trump’s comments has been severe. With players, coaches, teams, and NFL owners condemning the president. Patriots owner and Trump donor Robert Kraft said he was “deeply disappointed” with Trump’s comments.

Rex Ryan, former Jets and Bills head coach and NFL analyst for ESPN, appeared alongside Trump during the presidential campaign but on Sunday Ryan said he was “pissed off” by the president’s comments,

“I’m associated with what Donald Trump stands for and all that because I introduced him. I never signed up for that, I never wanted that. That doesn’t mean I support 100 percent of the things he says.”

As for players around the league, they responded with a show of unity, either kneeling or sitting together or linking arms during the anthem. It was a resounding and powerful reaction to Trump, varying from team to team and player to player.

LeSean McCoy took the opportunity to warm up during the national anthem

Full video from the protest by some #Bills players during the anthem from @Matt_Bove, @JennaCottrell, @WKBW, and @13WHAM pic.twitter.com/3bxyoA3UDf

— Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) September 24, 2017

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The entire Pittsburgh Steelers team stayed in the locker room during the anthem besides serviceman and offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva

OL Alejandro Villanueva out in the tunnel standing alone for the national anthem. pic.twitter.com/fv2j06zRNL

— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) September 24, 2017

Mike Tomlin. No players behind him. pic.twitter.com/GYR0M4EyvR

— Eric Edholm (@Eric_Edholm) September 24, 2017

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For the first time white players across the league took a knee to protest the anthem

https://twitter.com/dkurtenbach/status/912070058494484480

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No players took the field during the anthem before the Seahawks Titans game

No players on the field during the anthem for Titans vs. Seahawks pic.twitter.com/6NEEJA7h1B

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 24, 2017

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Rico LaVelle took a knee while singing the anthem

Rico Lavelle sang the anthem AND took a knee pic.twitter.com/mgno4HCzZQ

— Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) September 24, 2017

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The Seahawks issued an official statement mincing no words saying, “we will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of color in this country.”

pic.twitter.com/GUhG3PB0fJ

— Seahawks PR (@seahawksPR) September 24, 2017

As for the actual play on the field, this was by far the most exciting week of action yet.

Odell Beckham Jr. showed why he’s one of the most talented players in the league, scoring two touchdowns in a matter of minutes. But it was OBJ’s celebrations that were truly memorable.

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First he seemed to pee like a dog (a possible response to Trump’s SOB comment)

https://twitter.com/12upSport/status/912036280921403392

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Then he defiantly raised his fist in the air in a show of Black Power

.@OBJ_3 ONLY NEEDS ONE HAND. 😱😱😱

Wait until you see this replay. Incredible. #GiantsPride https://t.co/ITqQPFpSUX

— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2017

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The Bears’ Marcus Cooper returned a blocked field goal almost to the house

Wow. #PITvsCHI https://t.co/gG6Ry6Uylr

— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2017

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A late Rirchard Sherman hit on Titans QB Marcus Mariota resulted in a near brawl

Richard Sherman out here looking for blood pic.twitter.com/lw8S2UiY2L

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) September 24, 2017

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Eagles rookie kicker Jake Elliott knocked a 61 yard field goal for the W over the Giants

61 yards.
For the WIN.

GOT IT! #FLYEAGLESFLY https://t.co/gGULiknrWD

— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2017

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The Lions were within literal inches of beating the Falcons…

Stafford to Tate!!! pic.twitter.com/rb3xpzlxzq

— uSTADIUM (@uSTADIUM) September 24, 2017

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Aaron Rodgers told the sideline what he thought about their playcall…

Aaron Rodgers to the sideline – "Stupid f***ing call, stupid f***ing call" pic.twitter.com/celvF0g8K2

— CJ Fogler (@cjzer0) September 24, 2017

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…and then won the game for the Packers

What a throw, what a catch! @AaronRodgers12 to @JordyRNelson for the CLUTCH TD! #CINvsGB #GoPackGo https://t.co/GXtD4WmT9F

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 24, 2017

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Chiefs rookie Kareem Hunt is the real deal

Kareem Hunt puts the game on ice!

(via @NFL)https://t.co/uK6FB2aZAt

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 24, 2017

People on both the left and the right are now boycotting the NFL because America has collectively lost its damn mind.

Whether you’re boycotting the NFL because players are protesting, Kaepernick is being blackballed, or the head injury thing is too real, you are well within your rights to do so. Sundays are good days for picnics and shit too.

But between the protests and the wild play on the field, the narrative in the NFL is pretty damn juicy these days.

You might want to tune back in.

With Week 2 of the NFL season in the books there’s been a lot of talk about the quality of the product on the field.

Sloppy play and quarterbacking displays that leave a little to be desired have seen some lopsided scores and questions over why teams are employing players like Blake Bortles.

But we’re all brainwashed anyways. It doesn’t seem to matter what the NFL does, they have millions of Americans locked in and that’s not changing anytime soon.

I’ve had my own personal dilemma with watching the NFL, as more and more studies come out about the longterm effects of the game of football on the human brain, but here I am, mainlining Red Zone and refreshing my fantasy apps maniacally.

The NFL will always provide entertainment, even if the product seems to be increasingly diluted. Let’s take a look around the league at some of the highlights from another Sunday of FOOTBAW.

Cameraman just kept running…

Cameraman with the truck stick on a #Chiefs cheerleader pic.twitter.com/z6pUrrYctB

— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) September 17, 2017

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Jaguars fans drowning their sorrows in Mayonnaise

https://twitter.com/god_hates_jags/status/909437484186181635

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Zach Ertz with the wild catch… just how they draw it up

Ertz on the deflection! #Eagles pic.twitter.com/5ynCkCM1hu

— Dan Levy (@DanLevyThinks) September 17, 2017

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Do the Chargers have any fans in LA?

Opening kickoff crowd for @chargers game today – this can't be blamed on the weather pic.twitter.com/aKrXr9Bmiq

— Matt Baylow (@MattBaylow) September 18, 2017

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No, no they do not.

Chargers on Sunday: 25,381
Qualcomm on Saturday (SDSU): 43,040

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) September 17, 2017

It’s not much better for the Rams

Kickoff at the Coliseum between the Rams and Redskins. Not many here to see it. pic.twitter.com/XAwandU2l6

— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) September 17, 2017

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Not great.

The attendance for the USC game was more than the Chargers and Rams' attendances combined. pic.twitter.com/Pt96Vec5n4

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 18, 2017

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Gronk scored his 69th career touchdown (nice) on this long reception… and then got injured

ALERT: Gronk's touchdown spike just landed back to Earth. pic.twitter.com/QwT3MHBZNZ

— Only In Boston (@OnlyInBOS) September 17, 2017

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BEAST MODE BACK IN THE BAY (this may be the most Oakland thing to ever happen)

Marshawn Lynch is the greatest pic.twitter.com/iCLodp7qus

— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) September 17, 2017

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The NBA on NBC music had us in our feelings (shoutout to the music producer on SNF)

NBA on NBC music on NFL game, sooooooo good!! pic.twitter.com/i8ZZHVDDxP

— Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) September 18, 2017

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All these trash quarterbacks doing their trash thing meanwhile Colin Kaepernick is still unemployed…

Colin Kaepernick, watching Blake Bortles, Mike Glennon, Brian Hoyer, Tom Savage, and Scott Tolzien start games today: pic.twitter.com/GEd1G01HOC

— Jack M Silverstein (@readjack) September 10, 2017

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ONE MORE TIME