Quitting While They're Ahead - Abandoning the Saints and the NFL

As you might have already read, the episode with the failed moment of silence to Officer McNeil was the final straw for me. I'm now done with the NFL in it's entirety, including the Saints. And the more I think about it, what occurred in the Dome on October 15, 2017 was the perfect signal to me that the league has gone beyond the point of no return.

There are so many factors over the past several years that have moved me closer and closer to this tipping point. One of the big ones I will call out was the league using BCA month to drive up its own profits while hardly giving anything at all back to the cause. I have 3 cousins who are breast cancer survivors, good women who I hope my daughters will grow up to be like.

This above all is what grinds my gears. From where I sit, the NFL uses, abuses and discards human issues at their leisure, with ratings and profits consuming their entire focus. This is what I find the most appalling and to me really show the NFL's true colors. Yes, I realize the purpose of corporations is to make money but far too often lately the NFL has crossed the line and taken on an inhuman, unethical tone that is right up in the faces of their consumers and would be fatal to most other businesses, but not the NFL (not yet). The kneeling/anthem fiasco has certainly crossed over into some 'personal', 'human' territory once again for me.

On Sunday, the Saints coaches and players knew unequivocally that they would be booed loudly for their team kneeling ritual before they ever set foot in the Superdome. While they are kneeling prior to the anthem to sidestep the massive controversy, I still find their behavior irresponsible. Their focus should be warming up and getting psyched for the game, and getting the fans into the game. It's the stadium announcer and event staff's responsibility to take care of the pre-game festivities and ceremonies of recognition. The players are plainly overstepping their boundary. A boundary that is there for a reason.

It seems like the booing from the kneeling had already gotten so loud that a lot of people there had a hard time even hearing the call for a moment of silence. That is the real problem. The Saints coaches and players are out of order knowingly creating a spectacle that will cause boos and disruption. Why is there this insistence to provoke their fans, instead of engage them? The team is the root cause of this disruption and this "misunderstanding". And they are professionals, college graduates, adults, the best at what they do - it is not a reach to expect a few minutes of etiquette.

Nothing will bring back Officer McNeil. The moment of silence DOES mean something. Otherwise, why would the stadium staff bother doing it? The request for the moment of silence likely came from the mayor's office, or the NOLA PD or the sheriff's office. In any of those cases, the team MUST honor the request of those providers. Because without New Orleans there is no Saints.

What happened on Sunday signified that the special interests of the Saints coaches and players have been moved well ahead of the well-being of the community and those that serve the community at great personal risk. When you consider Hurricane Katrina and what the New Orleans community went through 12 years ago along with the Saints, that's quite a descent.

I understand what it's like to lose an immediate family member unexpectedly, and I know what it's like to tell my kids that their other parent has passed away. It is a desperate and painful experience. All that was asked for on Sunday is a short solemn recognition for those suffering and less fortunate. It is a Sunday after all.

That was the only moment of silence Officer McNeil will ever get, and it was ruined. And yet these coaches and players will continue to kneel callously week after week and get 'their' moment, putting their needs and their ceremony far ahead of those suffering in their community.

It's clear the management, the coaches and players across the country now lack the humility and responsibility necessary to don the NFL Shield. They cannot exhibit enough grace to conduct themselves accordingly for a few key minutes out of 3+ hours that is otherwise all about them. Their behavior made a simple moment of silence impossible. Years ago they lost my money, and now they no longer deserve my support or fandom.

Rest in peace Officer McNeil, your family and fellow officers have my deepest sympathies.