You could say the National Football League (NFL) helps R.L. Butler make a living. People who patronize his Fat Tuesday’s bar and grill in Fairfax, Va., take in those games on a regular basis during football season.
But after the latest “take a knee” protests in which players and even some coaches knelt instead of standing for the national anthem, Butler had had enough. He decided to tell his customers he would not be showing the games on Sunday, and people flocked to Fat Tuesday’s to show their support.
“Let’s all be proud Americans,” Butler told Breitbart News as people watched baseball and golf on multiple screens. “Let’s all respect our flag, respect our national anthem.”
Some reacted negatively to Butler’s announcement, even making derogatory remarks about his family, so he took down the bar’s Facebook page.
“You don’t come after my family like this,” said Butler, whose daughter served in Afghanistan in the U.S. Army.
But the crowd on Sunday at Fat Tuesday’s was decidedly in Butler’s corner as they dined on Cajun food, cold beer, and the trademark baskets of unshelled peanuts.
“It’s something I can support,” Ross Mirmelstein, who is on staff at the National Sheriffs’ Association, told Breitbart News.
“I fully support the right of anyone — be it an NFL player or anybody else — to protest anything, peacefully.”
“But then I have the right to disagree with what they’re protesting and not to support them,” said Mirmelstein, who is a U.S. Navy veteran.
“If you want to protest something — anything — in society, that’s fine,” Mirmelstein said. “But there’s a time and a place for everything.”
Manny Santiago isn’t a regular at Fat Tuesday’s, but he said that he decided to show up on Sunday “because I’m tired of everybody putting down America.”
“You know these football players make a lot of money — which is great,” Santiago said. “I hope everybody can make a lot of money.”
“But they’re protesting against something that doesn’t make any sense,” Santiago said. “What do you want to protest against the flag for?”
Charlie Roberts agrees and called the American flag a part of the “traditional values” he and the bar’s owner both believe in.
“I think taking a stand like he did is kind of courageous given the mood of the country these days,” Roberts said. “And I think it’s really nice that he stepped up for his daughter and for the military in general.”
“And I want to support that,” Roberts said. “I think at this time in this country, I think it’s important to stand up for traditional values and the military is one of our traditional values. The national anthem is part of that. The flag is part of that and I want to support that.”
Butler said the support he received wasn’t just the crowd that came on Sunday. He got messages and phone calls from as far away as Germany and California.
And one woman in Arkansas told Butler she wanted to do her part, so she invited people to drop by to contribute to her bonfire.
“She asked everybody to bring their NFL gear,” Butler said, adding that some even tossed in their season tickets.
Watching the crowd revealed that these folks were enjoying their Sunday afternoon sans NFL football because, they said, it’s really about what it means to be an American that’s at stake.
“It’s just being American to respect our flag and respect our national anthem, and that’s the bottom line on this,” said Butler, adding he won’t start showing games at his place until the protests stop.
“I don’t care if you’re black, white, Republican, Democrat, Independent, blue, green — I mean that’s the point,” Butler said. “We’re all Americans.”
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