Now that NFL players have been placed in their pregame boxes -- out of sight, out of mind -- if they want to make a statement during the national anthem, and now that team owners are safe from the tweets of President Trump that so terrify them, it's time for the NFL to take other measures to protect the anthem.
At NFL stadiums, concession stands should be closed during the playing of the national anthem. It's just a couple of minutes. Fans don't need to buy overpriced burgers, hot dogs or take a slurp of a just-purchased beer while the national anthem is in progress.
Television networks should be required to telecast the playing of the national anthem before every NFL game.
I don't know exactly what goes on during every NFL pregame telecast, but I've noticed on the televisions in press boxes where I'm standing that networks cut away from the national anthem and show commercials during what NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said on Wednesday is, "an important moment."
If it's so important players are being asked not to come onto the field if they want to sit or kneel in protest, and teams face a fine for any players who protest on the field during the anthem, it should be important enough to the league that its business partners honor the anthem as well.
If the national anthem is this critical to the NFL, networks can refrain from trying to tell viewers what car they should buy, what financial advisor they should use or which IT products they should purchase, for just a few minutes. Where's the harm in that?
At some point, the league might want to consider the requirement that each team send patrols through stadium parking lots to shut down tailgaters during the national anthem. That's going to be dicey since these are paying customers and not employees the NFL can, after "hours of discussions with tens, if not hundreds of players" order to stand for the national anthem.
And if The Star-Spangled Banner matters so much to the NFL, shouldn't all four verses be sung?
Once the NFL gets everything in order, it will be time to look elsewhere for those who fail to respect the playing of the national anthem before the start of a sporting event.
Why not begin in Charlottesville? At John Paul Jones Arena during men's basketball games, some in the crowd enjoy shouting "Hoos" at the point when the lyrics are, "Whose broad stripes and bright stars . . ." Since respect is so important during the national anthem, it seems appropriate that security personnel be readily available to remove those who shout "Hoos" instead of respectfully standing silent or singing along with the anthem. Or maybe Virginia should be assessed a technical foul for this violation of anthem etiquette.
If only we could ask the founder of the university, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and someone who might have declined to stand when "God Save the Queen" was played, what he would Tweet about all this.
Instead, we'll turn to a Virginia graduate, Chris Long, a 10-year NFL veteran, member of two Super Bowl championship teams and valedictory speaker for Virginia's graduation exercises last week.
Via Twitter, Long said, “This is fear of a diminished bottom line. It’s also fear of a president turning his base against a corporation. This is not patriotism. Don’t get it confused. These owners don’t love America more than the players demonstrating and taking real action to improve it. It also lets you, the fan, know where our league stands. I will continue to be committed to affecting change with my platform. I’m someone who’s always looked at the anthem as a declaration of ideals, including the right to peaceful protest. Our league continues to fall short on the issue.”
Democracy can be messy and uncomfortable. That's why we live in the land of the free and the home of the brave, something the NFL seems to have forgotten.