NFL players and other athletes getting it wrong with anthem/flag protests

President Trump takes on NFL player anthem protests

A major firestorm broke out in the American professional sports world this past week. That fire took the form of athletes protesting by kneeling, or not showing up at all, at the playing of the United States national anthem prior to games.

The protests were allegedly in response to comments made by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, in regards to a small number of NFL players who had taken part in such protests during the league's opening week.

Trump stated that NFL owners should fire any player who undertakes such a protest, which he (and many others) deemed disrespectful to our nation. Specifically, the President was quoted:

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired. He’s fired!'”

Various NFL teams responded by protesting the President's comments in different ways. Some linked arms while the anthem was played. In some of those cases, team owners and other management personnel linked arms with their players in a show of solidarity.

Real American Hero: Paul Smith

The Congressional 'Medal of Honor' is our nation's highest military award. There have been over 3,400 recipients in our history, but just over 840 since requirements were tightened in World War II. In order to be eligible a person must be nominated by his or her commanders.

The nominee then must have their story wind through a dozen levels of military and presidential reviews, during which various factors are taken into account to ensure that only the greatest among the many noble sacrifices are selected for the final honors.

Some of it's recipients have gone on to fame, or earned it by their honored actions, including President Teddy Roosevelt, Audie Murphy in World War II, and even 'Buffalo Bill' Hickock.

It's recipients have been called 'unsung soldiers who acted valiantly in a moment of extraordinary pressure'.

Following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, over a million military men and women have served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the first from this 'War on Terror' to be so honored was Sergeant Paul Smith.

He grew up in Tampa, Florida, enlisted in the Army in 1989, and served in the first Gulf War in 1991. He didn't join up at first out of patriotism, that developed later. At first he wanted just a good-paying job right out of high school, and saw this as his best shot. A career soldier, Smith was serving in Bosnia when the United States was attacked in 2001.

In April of 2003 he had moved on to Iraq, and was serving there as a combat engineer as his unit moved from Kuwait towards Baghdad, seizing a part of the Baghdad Airport on April 3rd, 2003.

The following morning, Paul was part of a team that was constructing a holding cell that would house prisoners of war, when the company came under attack by at least 100 Iraqi soldiers of Saddam Hussein's Special Republican Guard.

2004 American of the Year: Pat Tillman

Pat Tillman is the website’s selection as it’s 2004 American of the Year,the first-ever such designation, and it really wasn’t a difficult choice. President George Bush was really the only candidate that came close, but Tillman’s ultimate sacrifice for his country pushes him to the top of the list of great American’s for the past year.

Pat Tillman was an athlete, an acknowledged football rat. The guy simply loved to play football. Getting him out of a game was a difficult measure at any level. Sports Illustrated’s Tim Layden, in selecting him as his Sportsman of the Year, reported a story from Tillman’s high school days when he continued to sneak back into a blowout game after being removed by the coaches, to the point where the only way they could keep him on the bench was to take away his helmet. He wasn’t trying to show up the other team, or rub salt in their wounds, he simply couldn’t stand not playing.

Tillman helped lead his college team, Arizona State, to the 1996 Rose Bowl, and then a year later was voted the Top Defensive Player in the Pac-10, one of the nation’s elite football conferences. When he graduated from Arizona State and became eligible for the NFL draft, his college coach, Hugh Snyder, was asked if Tillman could make it in the NFL. His reply was “If you don’t want him on your team, don’t draft him, because he won’t let you cut him.” The Phoenix Cardinals made Tillman their 7th round selection in the 1998 draft.

Tillman started his NFL career as many players do, making his mark with outstanding play on ‘special teams’, the kickoff-team kamikazes who throw their bodies around in their efforts to both preserve territory for their team, as well as set the tone for the rest of the game. His outstanding play led him to win the starting Free Safety position with the Cards, and in 2000 he broke the team record for tackles in a season. His coaches repeatedly had to slow him down in practice, so that he wouldn’t hurt any of his teammates. It wasn’t that Tillman was mean or overly aggressive, you just couldn’t slow the guy down.

He was offered a free agent contract by the St. Louis Rams, a winning organization coming off a recent Super Bowl win, but Tillman turned it down to stay in Phoenix out of loyalty to the team that had given him his chance to become a pro athlete. He then turned down a lucrative $3 million contract from the Cardinals for an even nobler reason.

When the United States was attacked by radical Islamic terrorists on September 11th, 2001, something began to stir in the soul of Pat Tillman. Along with his brother Kevin, a minor leaguer with the Cleveland Indians baseball organization, Tillman resolved to personally do something to protect and defend his country.