What to Know
- For months, controversy has swirled around NFL players protesting during the national anthem
- The players say they aim to draw attention to police mistreatment of black Americans and to other social injustices
- The protests grew in number after President Trump entered the fray and encouraged the NFL to fire the players
A Staten Island bar has become an oasis for former NFL fans who say they’re enraged by players protesting during the playing of the national anthem, reports say.
Patrons of Joyce’s Tavern say they refuse to watch the NFL after President Trump cursed the players and encouraged a boycott of the league if officials didn’t “fire or suspend” them for kneeling, the Washington Post reported.
“I’ve 100 percent aborted ship,” Joseph O’Toole, a 10-year Giants season ticket holder said of the NFL. “There should be more people like us.”
Regulars of the pub in the Arden Heights neighborhood aren’t satisfied with the NFL’s response. Instead of watching football on Sundays, they wear American flag attire, hold events for charity and play the national anthem to spite the NFL.
Dozens of players from across the NFL have kneeled during the national anthem this season to bring attention to the mistreatment of African Americans by police. The protests were started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick last season, but became much more pronounced after Trump’s outburst at a rally in September.
The NFL’s policy states players “should” stand for the national anthem; the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, said the league and players were committed “to work together on issues of social justice.”
Local
A Siena College poll released last month found a solid majority of New Yorkers support the NFL protests, but Staten Island remains an outlier. The borough voted overwhelmingly for Trump in the presidential election, and 82 percent of Republicans there voted for Trump in the primary — his best performance of any county in the country.
