Two Cardinals veterans express skepticism over new anthem policy
May 23, 2018, 4:34 PM
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, center, is flanked by Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II, left, and Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill during a news conference where he announced that NFL team owners have reached agreement on a new league policy that requires players to stand for the national anthem or remain in the locker room, during the NFL owner's spring meeting Wednesday, May 23, 2018, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
(AP Photo/John Bazemore)
TEMPE, Ariz. – Cardinals defensive lineman Corey Peters and safety Antoine Bethea expressed a mixture of skepticism and disappointment over the NFL’s new national anthem policy, which team owners approved at the spring league meeting. The new policy will go into effect for the 2018 season, requiring players and league personnel on the sideline for games to stand for the anthem, while giving them the option to remain in the locker room if they don’t want to stand.
Individual teams will set their own policies to ensure adherence to the policy. If a player chooses to protest on the sideline, the NFL will fine the team.
“I understand from a business perspective they’re trying to kind of limit fans being upset about people protesting police brutality in this country,” Peters said. “I’m not sure that it’s going to have that big of an impact. People that have been protesting are just going to choose to stay inside I assume, however, I think it’s still going to be just as divisive because I’m sure people in the media are going to take time to point out who chose to come out and who chose to stay in the locker room. At the end of the day, it’s probably going to be more of the same.”
The NFL chose not to consult that NFL Players Association before implementing the policy, a move that was met with wide criticism.
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) May 23, 2018
“That just goes to show you where we’re at,” Bethea said. “I’ve always believed it should be a three-party-thing, or at least a two-party system making these kinds of decisions, even with rules changes, where the NFLPA has a say. It’s just another perspective.”
Bethea discounted the notion that this was a compromise by the NFL.
“Compromise? I don’t know man,” he said. “You want to go out and use your right of freedom of speech and take a knee, you’re going to get fined so it’s really not a compromise.
“They did give us the option as far as guys wanting to stay in the locker room so that’s going to be something guys are going to have deal with, if it’s going to be a team thing where everybody stays in the locker room or if it’s just a decision where everybody goes out and stands. I think the fine thing is kind of overboard. Fining players for expressing what they believe, I think that’s kind of overboard.”
Peters said he understands the rights of the owners to set rules in the workplace.
“The NFL makes the rules and we work within the NFL,” he said. “If we want to continue to work within the NFL we have to abide by those rules regardless of if that’s a national anthem policy, targeting rules, play, anything that they decide is kind of what we have to deal with. Being businessmen, we’ll find a way to fit under that umbrella.
“Personally, I’m interested to see what happens with it. I don’t know that it’s a problem solver. I do think that it will help with optics, but at the same time if you look up and there’s 15 guys on the sideline, that’s going to be an interesting picture as well.”
Peters said he has not discussed the policy with his teammates yet.
“I think it’s more of a discussion I’ll have with my wife and my family because my decisions ultimately affect them most,” he said. “I am interested to talk to some other teammates to see how they feel about it, but I’m comfortable saying that I support Colin Kaepernick and I agree with the reasons behind his protest. The fact that he’s not in the league any more is a statement to what others feel about it.”
Peters said those who criticize players who choose to kneel are missing the greater issue.
“The bottom line is police brutality is a huge problem in this country,” he said. “Whether people choose to accept that or not, or deflect those issues and turn them into something else, that’s not going to change. Although I have no children now, I do a lot of work in the community and it’s one of my greatest worries, the fact that in this country, regardless of my position and my job and all of those things, when I see police lights behind me, my first thought is not ‘oh, it’s the police. They’re here to help and keep the peace.’ My first thought is ‘let me make sure I get my license out, my registration out, put my hands on the wheel, make sure everything is visible, make sure that I look alright so I can be as safe as possible.’
“I’m not sure that’s the case for everybody in this country and that’s something that I would encourage people to think about and realize that these players taking a knee are doing so with their careers — something that they worked their whole life to build — putting those careers in jeopardy. I would ask people to think about their personal careers and what would need to happen for them to put those careers in jeopardy.
“When I look at a hero like Colin Kaepernick who decided this is more important than my life’s work, putting that at risk to make a statement, I think that’s heroic and I think a lot of guys support that. I personally support that and I’d like to see some changes brought about on that front as opposed to deflecting the issues and making it an issue of the flag.”
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