UPPER CHICHESTER>> It wasn’t a typical November afternoon at the American Legion Post 951 in Boothwyn on Sunday.
What would otherwise be filled with the sounds of rabid Eagles fans cheering on the Birds was noticeably absent, replaced with highlights from the Philadelphia Phillies 1980 World Series championship. No football game was playing at the post as part of an NFL blackout in response to various protest actions taken by players during the playing of the National Anthem before games.
The blackout, among many planned by veterans group near and far this weekend, counters the protests by NFL players who have decided to take a knee during the National Anthem against social and political happenings that have dominated current events.
Eagles fans at the post got a break. The Birds are on their bye week and did not play this weekend.
Sunday’s blackout comes on the last day of the busy Veterans Day weekend activities at the post that kept members busy celebrating the United States Marine Corps birthday on Friday and a ceremonial flag burn on Saturday.
As the post started to fill up mid-afternoon Sunday with post members and their loved ones it was clear that they stood with veterans who decry the protests against the flag, and the country, despite players saying their protest has been misconstrued. Players have said they are not protesting either the flag or veterans, but rather the actions of some police officers with members of the minority community.
“I don’t find that to be tolerable at all,” said a Navy veteran who spoke anonymously concerning the players’ actions. “There are a lot of other things they can do than to degrade our flag. I don’t think degrading the flag is doing anything for their protests. There are other ways to protest.”
And it wasn’t just this one veteran who thought so.
Many, including those of the post leadership, agreed with that sentiment, noting that it was the form in which they’re protesting – kneeling, staying in the locker room – that was the issue.
“Veterans will go to death to defend your First Amendment right and have respect that they are willing to say that and do that. It’s the manner and venue that you (put out the message),” Post 951 Home Association President Ken D’Aurizio had said previously.
National heads of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars also have expressed their displeasure with the protests, but there has not been an action from them pushed to their tens of thousands of posts to blackout the NFL.
Even though everyone was in agreement that protesting is a right, no one at the post on Sunday appeared to fully agree with the protesting that has been occurring during NFL games this season.
“I’m neutral with it. It doesn’t bother me, I get it,” said Neil Cuerden, an Army veteran who served from 1996 to 2010. “It’s not fazing me either way.”
Cuerden’s fiancee, Megan Keller, supported the post’s blackout, but still didn’t outright condemn the kneeling. Actually, she found it to be a peaceful option in comparison to some other alternatives.
“I’d rather they kneel than go out and cause riots,” she said. “While it is peaceful, I agree with people’s rights to disagree with it as well.”
Keller added that there has been too much media coverage concerning the protests, which in the process has made them bigger than what they really are.
“I think the message is being forced upon us. I understand (the player’s) reasoning, but I don’t understand the media’s reasoning in pushing it. I’m off social media currently because of politics from both ends being shoved (on me).”
Veteran Mike Hafich felt the same way.
“I really think that if the media had just let (former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin) Kaepernick do his thing last year, that’s when it (should have) died away,” Hafich said. “By giving it the attention, everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame.”
Hafich never cared for professional football so the protesting and one-week blackout out at the post hasn’t made him any less of a fan.
“I live and die with this team for the last 50, 60 years.” Hafich said, pointing to the Phillies playing on the TVs. Watching the 1980 Phillies play was a reminder that sports used to be a-political and was an enjoyment for fans.
“Football is supposed to be fun,” Keller added.
“If they want to make a bigger contribution to what they’re protesting,” Cuerden said, “they have a name, obviously they have some money, go outside of football.”
Ultimately, Hafich thinks that the message protesters have been putting out has been lost.
“The people who are behind it might have nice intentions, but the world is just becoming so fragmented. A lot of people are doing it for a lot of different reasons. The media has given them exposure and especially the talk radio (hosts). It gives them something to talk about. It started out as something, I guess,” he said. Hafich added that if players have certain gripes over social issues, they may be legitimate, but kneeling during the National Anthem during nationally broadcast football games isn’t the right venue to do it.
Ahead of Veterans Day weekend, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell met with leaders of veterans groups on Friday to discuss the protests. According to sportingnews.com, Goodell said he would not force players to stand for the National Anthem, and veterans groups will not ask their members to boycott the NFL.
