Recall that President Trump said, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners,” wondered the president, “when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b**** off the field right now, out. He’s fired. He’s fired!’”
I said that no owner would have the stones to stand up to political correctness like that. I thought they’d be too cowardly to do it, even though at least a few are probably thinking it.
Well, I was wrong and Trump was right. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones came out and said practically that. He said earlier this week if a player disrespects the flag and national anthem by not standing, then the player will not play.
And sure enough, fans loved it. Even I, a Jerry Jones hater, loved it. But the players and the Players Union were not quite as fond of the Cowboys owner’s exhortation.
“Local 100 of the United Labor Unions filed a complaint against the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday, alleging owner and general manager Jerry Jones has violated the National Labor Relations Act by threatening players if they choose not to stand for the national anthem,” writes ESPN.
According to the filing to the National Labor Relations Board, “the employer, evidenced by repeated public statements, is attempting to threaten, coerce and intimidate all Dallas Cowboys players on the roster in order to prevent them from exercising concerted activity protected under the act by saying that he will fire any players involved in such concerted activity.”
Just as is the entire complaint of racism and oppression, the Union complaint is a fabrication. First, Jones never said he would fire anyone, and second, Jones, as a private business owner has every right to do that and more, should he choose.
Here is the law, as explained by the Law Firm Holland & Knight.
“Employees, as well as many employers, commonly but mistakenly believe that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees ‘freedom of speech’ at work. In fact, the First Amendment applies only to government action and neither limits the rights of private employers to regulate employees’ communications nor provides any constitutional right for those workers to express thoughts or opinions at work. Although employees may be entitled to express their views freely on their own time or on a soapbox in the park, they have no such wide-ranging constitutional rights at work…there are no legal protections for political activities in the workplace.”
This protest, or whatever it is, is a political activity and it is happening at the workplace.
But knowing the history of the jack-boots at the Labor Relations Board, they’ll rule however they feel – the Constitution be damned.
Therefore I think that from now on the NLRB should not only tell the owners of the teams who can and can’t play, but also set the lineups of who will play. Why not? If we’re going to accept authoritarian government control in the private sector workplace, why not just go all the way. For as we know, by means of American history’s great progressives like Teddy Roosevelt, the private sector is inherently evil, and government, through it’s inherent benevolence, is the only entity capable of putting a check on that evil.
The government is and should be the only arbiter of what is fair.
And the NLRB should be able to have input on play selection. After all, one could complain that too many consecutive run plays is unfair to receivers, and vice versa. Player A was hired to be a receiver, and now because of discriminatory play calling, he doesn’t get a “fair” chance to showcase his talents. It’s just about fairness. Don’t we want the coaches to treat their players fairly? Boy, I sure hope so.
Or maybe it is as it always is – a race thing. Just look at, for example, Aaron Rogers. He seems to throw far more often to his wide receiver, Jordy Nelson – another white guy. So it’s white to white for the first down or the touchdown. Nelson has 6 TDs so far this year. That’s more all the other receivers – of course. Despite 70% of the league being people of color, Rogers consistently and by sheer coincidence (I’m sure), throws to the only white starting receiver on the team. Huh.
Heck, the more I ponder this, the more I am now convinced that the private sector just can’t properly manage professional football. So, like healthcare, I think the government should step in and take it over. It’s the only “fair” thing to do.
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