The National Football League once again bungled their handling of the American flag by rejecting an ad for their Super Bowl program from AMVETS saying #PleaseStand. The vets are upset and claiming "corporate censorship" and the league is claiming they don't accept advertising that could be seen as a political statement by some. I'm guessing the patriots, the original ones who fought to establish this country would have never believed this day would come in a million years. Can you believe we now live in a country where we don't want to offend people who could be offended by being asked to stand for our flag?

This is the ad that was rejected:

#PleaseStand
Photo: AMVETS
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The cost of the ad, which would have been paid for by AMVET, is $30,000. That's what our veterans were willing to pay to ask you to stand for the flag, notice I say "ask" and not "demand." Similar ads were accepted by the NBA and NHL for their All Star Game programs. Those leagues got in front of the anthem protests and you don't see anyone taking a knee. The NFL couldn't do that and they are so afraid of ticking off their players that they would choose their perceptions of the players' feelings over the known feelings of the veterans who fought and died so that they can have the freedom to play their game.

What's odd about this is that the ad lines up with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's stance on the flag. Goodell once told reporters.“We want our players to stand. We’re going to continue to encourage them to stand,” Well commish, that's exactly what the ad is doing, encouraging the players, as well as all Americans, to stand.

The ad is paid for by AMVET. I'm sure the NFL does not endorse every sponsor, or maybe they are all drinking beer and using Viagra, but doesn't it suck that those companies can get their ads in but "please stand for the flag" is rejected? How must this look to the other countries? Then again, how did it look when NFL players stood in London for the English anthem and took a knee for ours?

The whole National Anthem protest was an ill conceived idea that had players spending more time explaining they meant no disrespect to the military than getting their actual message pf police brutality and racial inequality out. By rejecting the AMVETS ad, the NFL dredges it up all over again. It would have been much better if they had simply run the ad and if anyone had a problem, they could have placed their own ad stating their viewpoint in a respectful way.

The NFL does salute the military though, in fact if you go on their website you can buy their "salute to service" gear. Maybe they can wear it when they stand for the flag, or maybe not since they don't want to offend some one who may see that as political.

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