NFL Players Association files grievance challenging national anthem policy
 

The NFL Players Association filed a grievance with the league on Tuesday challenging its national anthem policy.

The union says that the new policy, which the league imposed without consultation with the NFLPA, is inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement and infringes on players’ rights.

In May, the NFL approved its national anthem policy at its owners’ meetings in Atlanta. The policy allows players to protest during the national anthem by staying in the locker room, but forbids them from sitting or taking a knee if they’re on the field or the sidelines.

Teams will be subject to fines if players don’t comply and will have the option of punishing players.


When the league announced the policy, commissioner Roger Goodell called it a compromise aimed at putting the focus back on football after a tumultuous year in which television ratings dipped nearly 10 percent; some blamed the protests for such a drop. The union said at that time that it would file a grievance against any change in the collective bargaining agreement.



Read more on The Boston Globe

:lightsabres:

Re: NFL Players Association files grievance challenging national anthem policy
 

It was not inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement. Know how I know that? Because there was a rule already in place against anyone on the field who failed to stand for the flag and Anthem. The league simply failed to enforce it.

All they have done with this new "policy" is lay out the same rules with an exception that you can stay in the locker room without penalty. It's a cop out, and does nothing to solve the problem, in the first place, and yet the players STILL don't like it? Who cares. Move to Mexico or Cuba, or whatever place you believe is so much better than here.

Re: NFL Players Association files grievance challenging national anthem policy
 

Some attorney is making money.

Re: NFL Players Association files grievance challenging national anthem policy
 

You are close, but off in one vital aspect. There is no actual rule covering this subject. But, it was addressed in the NFL operations manual (which is NOT a part of the official NFL rules documentation).

As you see, there was nothing in the rules that specifies that players will stand for the anthem and that violators will be disciplined.

Re: NFL Players Association files grievance challenging national anthem policy
 

shut up and go to work. Protest on your own dime and time.

Re: NFL Players Association files grievance challenging national anthem policy
 

OMG!!! This **** is still going on!?! Here we go one more time dammit! Freedom of speech is good but respect for those who gave their lives is also a good thing! It's a freakin' thugs message that no one understands! :bang:

Re: NFL Players Association files grievance challenging national anthem policy
 

Either stand or don't come on the field. If you want to make a political statement do it on your own time.

Re: NFL Players Association files grievance challenging national anthem policy
 

Re: NFL Players Association files grievance challenging national anthem policy
 

I predicted this message would come, and you were the one who was most likely to send it.

You can call it a rule, or you can call it a guideline. I call it a rule, because there is no reason to say "should", if you do not intend for the players to stand, or else face some kind of penalty. The word "should" simply means that the league can CHOOSE not to do anything about it, which is exactly what happened the last couple of years. The "should" was a nudge by the league to make the players not embarrass said league as they have, but when it came down to facing the embarrassment the league was, and is, weak.

It matters not to me whether something is in the game operations manual or in the rule book. Because there is nothing in the rule book that says that players acquitted of crimes by the court can still be suspended by the league. The league makes up rules on the fly, and this is just the problem. They enforce whatever is convenient for them, even if they have to invent something. They also have rules that say a certain type of offense carries a SPECIFIC number of games you are to be suspended, only to be doubled when the league decides they want to make an example out of someone.

Now they have changed their policy, leaving the door still wide open for players to get off scot-free for doing something that the league doesn't want to have to deal with. Everything is politically motivated with them. It's why they hand out inconsistent punishments depending on whatever they believe will make them look "socially responsible", and it's why they refuse to take a hard stance on player conduct regarding the Anthem.

Re: NFL Players Association files grievance challenging national anthem policy
 

Rings of truth.
I cant believe how stupid these people are.
They're all like Joe Psarcik. They were winning, and banking, and all they
had to do is not do anything stupid. I'm becoming less and less empathetic
with players, to the point, I dont know how much I give a damn about them,
or the NFL anymore.

This is kind of a statement, because I was kind of a bigger than average fan.