I’m Benching My Fantasy Football Team over National Anthem Protest

The national anthem protests in the National Football League have gone entirely too far.

The league could have stopped these absurd outbursts if they had delivered Colin Kaepernick a stern rebuke instead of going on about his freedom of expression — a right that he can exercise just as easily from the frigid stands at Levi’s Stadium as from the sidelines. Then other players started joining in; then a women’s soccer player; and now the Seattle Seahawks (or not?), who practically play in Canada anyway.

So far, few people have had the guts to stand up to the madness, aside from the military families and veterans who booed and protested Kaepernick at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall lost a military-related sponsor, and USA Hockey coach John Tortorella vowed that any player who sat for the anthem would stay there.

It has become impossible to avoid the opinions of these supposedly oppressed, gratuitously overpaid wannabe social justice warriors. The latest insult is that Madden NFL 17 — that’s right, the video game — is going to be incorporating the Kaepernick protest.

According to Fox Sports, “On Monday, EA Sports confirmed that in addition to remarking on weekly trends and notable performances from players, [Brandon] Gaudin and [Charles] Davis will address Colin Kaepernick’s decision to sit during the national anthem last week, which drew a mixture of praise and harsh criticism from fellow players and fans.”

That’s it — I’ve had enough. I’m following John Tortorells’s lead, and benching my entire fantasy football team to protest the national anthem protest. Or I would, if I actually had a fantasy football team.

I’m thinking of drafting all the miscreants next weekend alongside a roster of no-hopers so that I lose on purpose. It’s cheaper, and more environmentally friendly, than just buying a Kaepernick jersey to burn it.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. His new book, See No Evil: 19 Hard Truths the Left Can’t Handle, is available from Regnery through Amazon. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.