NFL Empty Seats Galore Go Viral In Online Pictures: Veterans Day Boycott Calls For Vacant Stadiums
Associated Press journalists counted 22 NFL players across the many teams kneeling or doing something other than acknowledging the National Anthem during the NFL games on Sunday. They also noticed something else — empty seats and lots of them! Photographers preferred to use pictures to tell the story of the unusual lack of attendance for the Sunday games and those pictures have gone viral. The 22 players are a small number in comparison to previous weeks, but as long as any of the players kneel, fans are opting to show their own protests by not going to the games, reports CBS News.
According to another article from CBS News, “any camera that panned across the upper deck in any number of stadiums Sunday confirmed the fact.” While many see the empty seats as a result of the NFL players kneeling in a display that is disrespecting the country and all that it stands for, there are other factors involved suggests, Jason La Canfora, who writes for CBS Sports.
La Canfora believes the protest of not going to the games goes beyond the player’s kneeling. He suggests it is the fans protesting the “product being put on the field,” or lousy football playing. Colin Kaepernick started this kneeling protest over a season and a half ago, cites La Canfora, and while folks continue to condemn this protest, there’s another problem.
That additional problem would be “the number of teams who fail to play anything close to attractive football and the lack of a “skilled player who would garner a second look, ” suggests La Canfora. Still, The Independent Journal claims the “NFL boycott is stronger than ever and they cite the number of empty seats for Thursday night’s game last week for their evidence to back up this claim.
Remember football? https://t.co/vl8yVHZc0O
— Chad Prather (@WatchChad) October 23, 2017
Roger Goodell, the NFL Commissioner, stated that the players should stand for the anthem and left it at that. No repercussions were handed down for the players who didn’t follow his lead. On Thursday night when the “Oakland Raiders squared off against the Kansas City Chiefs, the O. co Coliseum” they had “thousands of empty seats,” according to the Independent Journal.
According to the Patriot Report, “the NFL is humiliated” as pictures of stadiums with half-empty seats go viral. A boycott planned for Veterans Day Weekend is growing strong as more and more people report they plan on not going to a game or even watching a game on TV. This boycott is the result of the N FL players kneeling and doing other actions, like sitting, during the National Anthem at the game.
According to the Boycott NFL Facebook page, they are hoping many will join them in this Veterans Day weekend protest. Many folks see this as a fitting weekend for this protest because the veterans are the men and women who respect the flag and this country to the point they have risked their own lives to serve the nation.
The Gateway Pundit has posted the pictures of the different stadiums that were riddled with empty seats and they report that some stadiums “nearly empty” in comparison to what an NFL game used to look like when it came to packing in the football fans.
Conservatives Plan to Send Patriotic Message, Boycott NFL on Veterans Day Weekend https://t.co/Bh5fkIeKw9 via @BreitbartNews
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) October 20, 2017
McCall.com asks that you “Listen to our service members and boycott the NFL the weekend of Nov 11-12 for Veterans Day. Show the owners, players, and advertisers we care.” McCalls suggests that many of the television channels have opted not to show the National Anthem performance on TV to “avoid the controversy.” Then McCall also asks you to “name any problem or challenge you ever had in your life that avoiding it was the cure.”
The empty seats at last weekend’s games are seen in the many pictures posted online today and if this boycott for Veterans Day takes off as groups across the nation call for, maybe the message will be loud and clear to the NFL players. One thing that the owners of these teams will probably have to address sooner or later if more and more seats continue to sit empty, is their wallets.
Many of the NFL players make more money in one of their contracts than some people will make in their lifetime. With the NFL lacking more fans as time goes on, financially this can’t be good for the owners and the NFL as a whole.
[Featured Image by Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Images]
