NEW YORK — ESPN star host Scott Van Pelt says he cannot understand why fans are angry that the Dallas Cowboys brought politics into sports when they kneeled as the U.S. flag was being transported onto the field and just before the national anthem was played.
“If this is something that upset you, you are just going to be mad. And no conversation can take place if that’s all they did. It just can’t happen if you just want to be mad,” Van Pelt said last night on his show.
“This was before the anthem and what they did was booed,” he continued. “So, if the anthem wasn’t played and the flag wasn’t being displayed and you are angry at that, what are you angry about? I’m out on this one. I’m out of gas. I don’t know what else there is.”
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Van Pelt, considered one of the most important sports commentators on ESPN, was referring to the display Monday night in which Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the Cowboys team locked arms and kneeled as a large U.S. flag was being carried to the field. Fans immediately booed the team.
The Cowboys, still with Jones, then rose as the flag was unfurled, remaining arm-and-arm, and stood as singer Jordin Sparks belted out the national anthem.
On ESPN, Van Pelt played a clip of Cowboys’ head coach Jason Garrett explaining the decision to kneel before the national anthem in which Garret stated:
How do we achieve these two objectives? How do we somehow someway convey unity, somehow someway convey the importance of equality in our country and do so without in any way involving the American flag and the national anthem. And that’s what we came up with.
Van Pelt reacted to the clip by exclaiming that he could not comprehend why fans would boo such a display.
“Does anybody listen to what the man just said? Will anyone listen to what he said about what they did as a team? How they talked for days to figure out how they could show their support and then not be disrespectful to the flag and that’s what they did,” Pelt stated.
“If you listen to what he said about an organization, a billionaire owner and a group of players from all over the country that thought about what they want to do and did that. And if that didn’t work for you then I don’t know what to say,” Pelt added.
Perhaps Van Pelt should review the results of a Remington Research Group survey finding that 69 percent of people watching less football attributed “players using the NFL as a stage for their political views” as a primary reason they are switching off the game.
President Donald Trump took to Twitter to react to the booing:
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, Aaron Klein Investigative Radio. Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.
Written with additional research by Joshua Klein.