Hoping to quash the now two years of anti-American protests during the playing of the national anthem, the NFL is gearing up to put the finishing touches on its $89 million spending on social justice causes, but many of the extreme left-wing beneficiaries of that spending will not please conservative players or fans.
The spending package negotiated with some players last year did not satisfy all those players who took a knee, sat on the sidelines, stayed in locker rooms, or otherwise protested against the country during the playing of the anthem. While some players said they would end their demonstrations, other protesting players said that the $89 million spending package makes no difference to them.
Indeed, despite the negotiation of the spending, there was no agreement that players would henceforth all stand during the anthem, so the negotiated package has no real teeth to put an end to the protesting that many feel caused the NFL’s TV ratings to crater nearly ten percent last year.
The $89 million is set to be spent on causes that deal with “criminal justice reform, law enforcement/community relations and education,” the NFL said last year.
But, according to The Washington Times, some of the recipients of the spending are extremist groups that could upset conservative football fans and players.
One of those recipients is set to be MSNBC contributor Van Jones who runs a liberal outfit called Dream Corps. Jones raised eyebrows during the 2016 election for saying that the election of President Donald Trump was a “whitelash” against the country for having previously voted Barack Obama into office.
Robert Kuykendall, a spokesman for the conservative corporate watchdog 2ndVote, slammed the NFL’s sop to protesting players calling the whole thing a “shakedown.”
“Given the NFL Players Association’s history of donating to so-called ‘resistance’ organizations tied to George Soros, we can assume the newly formed Players Coalition will be funneling these supposed settlement dollars to left-wing advocacy organizations,” Kuykendall said according to the Times.
“The NFL’s brand has suffered because it has given left-wing agitators a platform and the millions deciding not to watch the games is evidence that the fans are tired of the politicization of football,” Kuykendall added. “By formally caving, the NFL will confirm it has no qualms against using the dollars fans spend on tickets and merchandise to fund the left’s agenda and further alienate viewers who just want to see agenda-free football.”
Still, at least two major protesting players seem to be on the outside of the league looking in. Firstly, protest inventor and former San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick was never signed to a team after going free agent at the end of the 2016 season. And in another case, protester Eric Reid, who went free agent at the end of the 2017 season, has also thus far found himself without a team. The 2011 SEC Champion was also a member of the 49ers until his free agency.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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