NFL Continues To Twist Itself Into A Pretzel Over Anthem Antics, While CBS Begins To Feel The Trump Effect

The National Football League has been getting kicked in the teeth lately. It’s entirely their fault. The league and its players decided to go to war with Trump and suffered a humiliating defeat. The president didn’t start this conflict. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick did when he decided to sit and then take a knee during the national anthem last year. In September, Trump said that these players should be punished for taking a knee during the anthem. Everyone went nuts. The league thought the fans were on their side. The liberal pundits thought so as well. Everyone was confident that Trump picked a culture war that was unwinnable. Wrong. Seventy-two percent of Americans felt Kaepernick's antics were unpatriotic. The NFL, anti-Trump America, and the players fired a cruise missile. Trump and the rest of the country responded with an atomic bomb. As I’ve said ad nauseum, when people see you disrespecting the flag, or think that’s what you’re doing—the fight is over. It could be the greatest cause in the world—no on will care. That’s what happened here. Instead of shining light on police brutality and racial issues, players have to explain why they’re protesting. And so goes the axiom: when you’re explaining, you’re losing.