Last MAN standing in the NFL, Ranger Alejandro Villanueva

[bblhead672]

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK

Roger Goodell Ignoring League's Own Rules in Letting Players Protest Anthem



After the millions spent on de-flated balls.. I'm wondering what Goodell will do with kneelers??

Goodell and the owners have perfected the art of ignoring their own rules when it benefits them.

[Chucko]

This NFL has to make people less proud of America. I am disgusted by the players antics.

[Team Sergeant]

Under Armour Inc, selling your integrity I see. Point taken, you are nothing but money loving spineless cowards.

How you can shave while looking at yourself in the morning is beyond me.



NFL Sponsors Starting to Push Back Over Anthem Protests
by WARNER TODD HUSTON26 Sep 2017

One sector in the NFL has been fairly quiet over the constant protests during the playing of the national anthem. However, a few NFL advertisers and sponsors are beginning to make their opinions known. Moreover, some are finding customers telling them what their opinions are.
On the one hand, Ford Motor Co., Nike, Under Armour Inc., Hyundai Motor Co., Anheuser-Busch InBev SA and several others issued statements in support of the players’ “right” to protest against the country during the anthem. However, trying to have it both ways, many of these companies also reaffirmed their own support of the flag, the country, and their patriotism, Bloomberg wrote.

Many of the statements mention the American tradition of individual rights, but they also said that they support flag and country.

Hyundai, for instance, said “We stand for and respect individuals’ freedoms to express their First Amendment rights in any peaceful manner in which they choose. We also stand for inclusion, freedom and all that represents those values.”





cont:
http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2017...them-protests/

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

...Hyundai Motor Co.

Let's see how that works out IN the country where your multi-national conglomerate is headquartered. Yeah, have someone from corporate bop over to a big square in downtown Seoul and hold forth on all the things wrong with South Korea. You know... because, way back, the atmosphere was looking so rosy for you to even contemplate growing such an economic mountain. Who gets there first; your HR people with the pink slip or the modern "white mice"?

Nike? UnderArmour? Overpriced logo-fads.

These outfits remind me of Hollywood; enjoy some of their acting craft but they should STFU.

A ball player (survivor himself) donates $1M to a child-cancer charity he started, another does the same, personally delivering for distribution to his home Puerto Rico post-hurricane. Guess I missed Kaepernickers visits to Chicongo to address his remedy for all the black-on-black murders.

Free speech for all - but it's not freedom from consequences.
[/curmudgeon out]

I did get a kick out of the Cubs' first baseman's answers to a reporter's baiting couple days ago.
Snowflake: "How do you feel about these demonstrations of solidarity on the sporting teams?"
Rizzo: "I play first base for the Chicago Cubs."
Snowflake: "But how would you feel about, ya know, whether you'd support a teammate who wanted to do something like that?"
Rizzo: "I play first base for the Chicago Cubs."

Maybe he's heard the one about The Scorpion & The Frog already.

[PSM]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Under Armour Inc, selling your integrity I see. Point taken, you are nothing but money loving spineless cowards.

How you can shave while looking at yourself in the morning is beyond me.

NFL Sponsors Starting to Push Back Over Anthem Protests
by WARNER TODD HUSTON26 Sep 2017

http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2017...them-protests/

I'm disappointed to see that USAA isn't pulling their sponsorship either:

USAA Service

Patitucci - Our purpose in becoming a league sponsor was to honor and appreciate the military community, and that will continue to be our focus. Professional football continues to be among the most watched programming and through our sponsorship, an avenue for us to encourage America to join us in saying “thank you” to our military and their families. Please also know that we’ve contacted the NFL to emphasize the significance of the national anthem and the vital position it plays in acknowledging our country, as well as the men and women who have fought to safeguard our liberties. We value your feedback and would hate to lose your business.USAA Social Service - Jason

USAA Social Service

Hello Everyone.* We appreciate your thoughts and feedback.*USAA advertising is intended to educate military and member prospects about USAA products and services, and is placed within programming that is popular with our military, veterans and their families.*Advertising during NFL games allows USAA to reach a broad military audience, including those who are currently serving.*Research indicates that 78% of active duty military are NFL fans, with 36% naming NFL as their favorite sport. We are more successful in our advertising when we target programs our members watch. Further, we have no plans to end our role as the Official Military Appreciation Sponsor of the NFL. The NFL provides a great platform through which we can raise awareness about and appreciation for America’s military and their families.* Thank you, Jen.

Pat

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by abc_123

Steelers' Alejandro Villanueva on standing for anthem: 'I made my teammates looks bad'

Fox News

"...Alejandro Villanueva, a former Army Ranger and the only Pittsburgh Steeler seen standing during the national anthem on Sunday against the Chicago Bears, told reporters he “unintentionally” threw his teammates under the bus.

In a news conference on Monday, Villanueva said it was never part of the plan to be out on the field alone and that he accidentally ran too far, according to CBS Pittsburgh..."

What was that 4th Rule?

Tell the truth about what you see and do. There is an army depending on you for correct information. You can lie all you please when you tell other folks about the Rangers, but never lie to another Ranger or to an officer.



TR

[Team Sergeant]

People are posting by the hundreds, maybe thousands on the USAA forums. I've been a member for decades and that will end next month. I've had enough of the spineless cowards that would sell their integrity and disrespect their veterans.

USAA you are going to pay dearly for that post. I hope it costs you your business if you do not retract that statement.






USAA Social Service

Hello Everyone.* We appreciate your thoughts and feedback.*USAA advertising is intended to educate military and member prospects about USAA products and services, and is placed within programming that is popular with our military, veterans and their families.*Advertising during NFL games allows USAA to reach a broad military audience, including those who are currently serving.*Research indicates that 78% of active duty military are NFL fans, with 36% naming NFL as their favorite sport. We are more successful in our advertising when we target programs our members watch. Further, we have no plans to end our role as the Official Military Appreciation Sponsor of the NFL. The NFL provides a great platform through which we can raise awareness about and appreciation for America’s military and their families.* Thank you, Jen.

[PSM]

TS, as I was reading your post (which I posted in #35 above ) I got a survey call from USAA because I commented on their site earlier. They are desperate. It sounded like they hired people off the street to make the calls. They won't be happy with my answers.

Pat

[turboprop]

Originally Posted by abc_123

Using the term "racist", that begs the question.... If a non-black person knows some black people, does that make their comments/argument more compelling?And, should this be emphasized when commenting on issues that obviously involve race (in this instance, as the originator Colin Kapernick emphasized).

I'm asking this as a white person who knows some black people.

What do you mean? Is it racist to ask black people to thank white people that they are not slaves on a plantation? I think so. In order to over simplify slavery and the end of slavery to that level you would have to see the world through a lens I simply don't have. If I were to break it all the way down to the core I would call the end of slavery a triumph of good over evil.

Do we thank people for not stealing from us? Raping us? Killing us? I don't think it's necessary because there is a basic human expectation that those acts, along with enslaving other humans, is not and should not be tolerated. I would like to think that regardless of whether or not I had friends of various races and ethnic backgrounds I would have the same moral code. I'll never know, as we are all victims of our own experiences. So if I see something I perceive to be "racist," I see a specific attack against a person that I care about.

I don't mean to take away from the discussion with an esoteric description of my own philosophies. For what its worth, I'm not agreeing with kneeling during the national anthem by any stretch. The national anthem and flag also have deep personal meaning for me. It's been a little while since I've been to a pro sports event, but I can certainly recall rendering proper courtesy during the Star Spangled Banner when many around did not. The men and women to whom the anthem pays tribute made this country the free country she is, one affords people the option to sit there an mouth breathe if they so chose.

[miclo18d]

Uhhhhhhhhhhh? WTF?

USAA as the sponsor and the Seahawks stay in the locker room (akin to watching someone getting raped)

http://www.seahawks.com/news/2017/09...command”

1st Special Forces Group Accepts “Big Honor” From Seahawks During USAA "Change of Command”

Friday, September 22, 2017 4:08 PM PDT

Shaquill Griffin stood alongside several of his Seahawks teammates and stared at a long list of characters etched in white on a polished black granite wall. Each name included on the memorial in front of him at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country, either in combat, training, or accidents.

“You see stuff like that, it makes you appreciate those guys even more,” Griffin said.

The 2017 third-round pick was on site at the Puget Sound-area base this week with other members of Seattle's rookie class for the team’s annual "Change of Command” ceremony. Prior to JBLM’s 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) formally accepting the honor as the team’s military partner for this year, Griffin and fellow first-year players were shown around camp by Colonel Will Beaurpere, Commander, who made the memorial wall the players’ first stop.

“A lot of us have a lot of respect for those guys, they work so hard,” said offensive lineman Ethan Pocic. "We just play a game. It’s life and death for them.”

In partnership with USAA, the Official Military Appreciation Sponsor of the NFL and the Seattle Seahawks, the Seahawks’ “Change of Command” ceremony sees a 12 Flag transferred between two military units, signaling a “Change of Command.” The exchange mirrors a deep-rooted military tradition where an outgoing commander formally transitions responsibility and authority of a unit to a new commander.

“This great tradition brings to life one event that makes serving in the military truly unique,” said Jeff Battle, USAA military affairs representative and Army veteran.

“USAA is honored to join the Seahawks and their fans in showing our respect and appreciation for the service and sacrifice of our military and their families.”

The tradition started in 2012, when USAA and the Seahawks wanted to find a way to honor service members and at the same time thank them for representing 12s across the world. Now in its sixth year, all five military branches have been celebrated to date, with the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team the first unit honored and this week in the 1st Special Forces Group, the Seahawks and USAA welcomed a sixth.

“It was a great honor and privilege for the Navy to be responsible for the 12th Man flag,” said Rear Admiral Gary Mayes, Commander, Navy Region Northwest, the Seahawks’ adopted military unit last season. "We did have the flag under the seas on submarines, we had it on aircraft carriers, so we’ve had it under the sea, on the sea, and also over the sea. Again, it was a great pleasure, and now we will turn it over to the 1st Special Forces Group — don’t screw it up.”

On where the 12 Flag might fly while in the hands of 1st Special Forces Group this year, Beaurpere competitively offered: “We will outdo the Navy, I assure you.”

Unique for Beaurpere and the Seahawks’ honored military unit this year is the fact that 1st Special Forces Group is stationed in the Seattle-area “almost permanently,” said Major Allie Weiskopf, Public Affairs Officer, 1st Special Forces Group. Weiskopf said that made this week’s ceremony “a big honor” for military members who for so long have been stationed so close to the Seahawks.

"As opposed to other military units that kind of come into the region for two or three years and then leave, the guys from our unit are stationed here almost permanently,” Weiskopf said. “So a lot of them are huge Seahawks fans because they’ve been stationed here five, 10, 15 years, unlike other military services.
"They really are true fans of the Seahawks.”

The “Change of Command” offered time for those “true fans of the Seahawks” to interact with some of the players they see in action on Sundays. While they were treated to autograph sessions and meet-and-greets with Seattle’s rookie class, many offered appreciation for the work the players do while wearing Seahawks blue and green, words of encouragement that put Griffin in an awkward spot.

“We were doing an autograph signing and they came up to us and said, ‘Man, we really appreciate you. Thank you so much,’” Griffin recalled. "But at the same time it’s something I wanted to say back to them, that I really appreciate them, because without them we wouldn’t be able to play the game we love."

“We needed this,” Griffin later reflected of the all-rookies day at JBLM. “We needed this."

Yet regardless of how humbled Griffin may have felt, Weiskopf notes the appreciation assuredly goes both ways.

"It was weird for them when the Seahawks felt the same way back,” she said. "I think we drew a lot of similarities between our organizations; we both train hard physically to do something that is for our nation and we definitely look to the Seahawks as a morale booster. They do a lot for the community and they’re just an organization that everybody here looks up to as well.”

As the only franchise in the NFL to put on such an event and carry on such a tradition, the Seahawks have incited a bit of jealously amongst 1st Special Forces Group’s friends across various branches of the military.

"It definitely is a bragging right for our soldiers that they have this special relationship with the Seahawks,” Weiskopf said. “… The Seahawks have just always given our soldiers 100 percent.”

Now Beaurpere and his unit plan to give equal support back to the Seahawks, with Beaurpere candidly asking for just one small thing in return.

“We will honor you and carry your 12th Man flag through the season, and we are very proud of that privilege,” he said. "Now I would only ask one thing in return; get out there and win a championship, will you?"

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by miclo18d

Uhhhhhhhhhhh? WTF?

USAA as the sponsor and the Seahawks stay in the locker room (akin to watching someone getting raped)

Seahawks and USAA, are nothing but cowards. The Seahawks lick the boot of their sponsors and the sponsors thought they only answer to the stockholders.

That ends very soon.

Here comes the consequences. Idiots protest in the streets, smart folks protest with their money.

[PSM]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Seahawks and USAA, are nothing but cowards. The Seahawks lick the boot of their sponsors and the sponsors thought they only answer to the stockholders.

That ends very soon.

Here comes the consequences. Idiots protest in the streets, smart folks protest with their money.

Hold fire. Did you read post #38? I think USAA is starting to get it.

[1stindoor]

Originally Posted by PSM

Hold fire. Did you read post #38? I think USAA is starting to get it.

I respectfully disagree. The problem is...they don't get it. They care about one thing...their financial bottom line. Period. They could care less about anything else, right now they're in a publicity quagmire that they helped create...and they're doing damage control because it affects their bottom line. At the end of the day they'll wear their arms out slapping their own back and congratulating themselves for successfully "adjusting their position," but they still won't get it.

[Box]

I'll be making my intentions known to USAA this very day.

[PSM]

Ironically, I only recently joined USAA. It was restricted to officers only when I was in. When our son joined it had opened to enlisted. Just a few years ago they opened it up to all veterans. Therein lies the bottom line: their military base was shrinking as the company was growing so they had to keep opening it up. I reluctantly joined only because I needed Medicare Supplemental insurance and they had the best deal plus they also offered the best homeowners insurance given our off-grid living situation.

Because of the insurance, I'll have to stick it out till the end of the year, but I have a feeling that they are really feeling the heat. Manchu: "Keep up the fire!"

Pat