NFL News: League Considering Penalties For Teams Who Kneel During The National Anthem
The NFL owners gathered together on Tuesday to discuss something that many may have thought was a thing of the past – the kneeling during the National Anthem situation. After three hours discussing it in Atlanta, it was obvious that it hadn’t been forgotten and is actually a big enough issue to bring about a possible rule change. There is now an idea on the table for teams to be assessed 15-yard penalties if any players from the team kneel during the National Anthem.
Despite not being a member of any NFL roster, Colin Kaepernick’s actions are still reverberating throughout the entire league.
As reported by Sports Illustrated, the first idea is that it would be up to the home team if whether both teams will come out onto the field for the anthem or not. If it is decided that the teams are to be out of the locker rooms for the performance, teams could be assessed 15-yard penalties if any players kneel.
Yes, that would mean that one or both teams could possibly receive a penalty before the game even officially gets underway. For now, this is merely an idea, but it is something that will likely be given a deeper look before the 2018-19 season begins.
NFL owners, don’t do this. https://t.co/e0c9BFpwf5
— SB Nation (@SBNation) May 22, 2018
Some had believed that the uproar over Kaepernick’s initial kneeling actions back in 2016 had fizzled out since he is no longer in the NFL. The same could be said for safety Eric Reid who was one of the first players to side with Kaepernick, but he is not on the roster of any NFL team either.
Earlier this month, Reid filed a collusion grievance against the NFL, as reported by ESPN, regarding his status of being unemployed. It is one that was similar to the grievance filed by Kaepernick which states that owners were working to keep them out of the league.
Back in March, Reid said his agent had been speaking with a few teams and that he had given up on kneeling for the National Anthem.
Eric Reid says his agent is talking with multiple teams. No visits set. He said he won’t be kneeling during anthem. 49ers John Lynch optimistic Reid’s free agency will lead soon to a team pic.twitter.com/8GHZqORz79
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) March 22, 2018
While the likelihood of this happening isn’t very high, it does say something for the fact that the NFL owners are still talking about it. If the idea of assessing penalties for teams kneeling during the National Anthem comes to pass, it could bring even more backlash than the action itself. Owners talking about it now just means that they are reminding players it’s still out there, but chances are that nothing will come from this in the long or short run.
