How Trump pushed NFL into new anthem rule: ‘This one lifts me’
President Trump’s public and personal pressure on NFL owners reportedly played a big role in the league’s decision to change its national-anthem rules amid controversial player protests.
In depositions from NFL owners obtained by the Wall Street Journal, as part of a grievance case filed by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the president personally told him in regard to the issue: “You can’t win this one.”
“This is a very winning, strong issue for me,” Trump reportedly added in the call. “Tell everybody, you can’t win this one. This one lifts me.”
Kaepernick was the first NFL player to protest police violence and racial injustice by refusing to stand for the national anthem in 2016. The conflict escalated last year after Trump publicly criticized protesting players.
Earlier this month, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the league would fine teams and league personnel who do not “stand and show respect for the flag and the anthem.” Goodell said the league unanimously agreed to the vote, though 49ers owner Jed York abstained. The new overhaul does allow players to remain in the locker room for the anthem.
The Journal reported that the depositions suggest Trump’s activism on the matter influenced the league to issue the new policy.
Trump last week said “the people” were the driving force
“I think the people pushed it forward, this was not me. I brought it out. I think the people pushed it forward,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends,” noting that NFL owners “did the right thing” by instituting the new policy.
The feud between the White House and the NFL began in September 2017 when, during a rally, the president suggested that if a player knelt or refused to stand for the anthem, the owner should “get that son of a b—h off the field.”
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross reportedly said in his deposition that he thought Trump “changed the dialogue.”
“I was totally supportive of [the players] until Trump made his statement,” Ross said.
Texans owner Bob McNair added that he thought the president’s comments were inappropriate.
But the depositions also show McNair, Ross and Jones all acknowledged that the protests were hurting their teams financially.