In a public appearance, Vin Scully has weighed in about the ongoing national anthem take-a-knee protests by National Football League players. During an event called “An Evening with Vin Scully” at the Pasadena (California) Civic Auditorium, the moderator asked the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster how the NFL owners, commissioner, and players should address the scenario where some players continue to kneel during the Star-Spangled Banner in pre-game ceremonies.
Vin Scully was the play-by-play voice of the Dodgers for 67 years, starting when the team was still based in Brooklyn, New York. Among many honors, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, and is a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. Scully, 89, retired as the Dodgers broadcaster at the conclusion of the 2016 MLB season.
In responding to the question about the national anthem protests, Vin Scully made reference to his own brief military career as well as noting that he was only speaking for himself, TMZ reported.
“I have only one personal thought, really, and I am so disappointed. I used to love, during the fall and winter, to watch the NFL on Sunday. It’s not that I’m some great patriot. I was in the Navy for a year. Didn’t go anywhere, didn’t do anything, but I have overwhelming respect and admiration for anyone who puts on a uniform and goes to war. So, the only thing I can do, in my little way is not to preach — I will never watch another NFL game.”
Vin Scully’s statement was met with a huge round of applause from the Pasadena audience on Saturday evening. The response to Scully’s remarks from the social justice cohort on Twitter, however, is a lot different as you might expect, with some insisting that the player protests about racial injustice have nothing to do with the U.S. military or the flag.
For whatever reason or combination of reasons, NFL TV ratings are trending significantly downward this season, so at least some segment of the viewing audience apparently shares Vin Scully’s feelings by voting with their clicker.
Parenthetically, during a June 2016 Dodgers game, the sportscaster uncharacteristically riffed on socialism in Venezuela, a country that is on the verge of collapse.
As the Inquisitr reported earlier today, a retired and disabled U.S. Navy commander refused an award from the New Orleans Saints, and was even unwilling to enter the Superdome, because of what he considers the players’ disrespect for the American flag.
Watch Vin Scully’s remarks about the national anthem protests below and draw your own conclusions.
[Featured Image by Jae C. Hong/AP Images]