NFL: an American pastime which brings fun and togetherness t..

NFL: an American pastime which brings fun and togetherness to households across the country. Community service, mentorships, inspirations have all come from this league of athletes. In spite of their humanities, incidents of brushes with the law and questionable public behaviors, these personal choices rarely affected the enjoyment of the game. Why? Because when on the field, the players and fans didn't want to hash out details of personal lives. Dez Bryant was arrested for assaulting his own mother, Michael Vick for a dog fighting ring, and the countless domestic violence charges, drug charges, gun charges, DUIs. When the players stepped onto the field, it was all about the game, the break in the stresses of life, of adulthood. Police brutality, racial inequality, and a distinct hatred for our President is very real, for many people. The tensions and concerns of those who outcry have spilled over into neutral territory like a boiling teapot whose steam needs to blow. Dangerous and counterproductive, what this accomplishes is only creating a deeper division and force people to choose sides in an argument they may otherwise support. This protest, in my opinion, is valid, but, poorly thought out. Rational speaking, effective leaders will use communication to get a message across. Once a demographic feels compelled to defend itself, their concern is preserving a way of life, not hearing legitimate grievances. Union leaders, military leaders, mothers and fathers all use these tactics to cross boundaries in order to effectively be heard, to create change. One of the purist symbols of American freedom, of a collective effort to do right by our countrymen, and a reminder of the effort it takes to preserve it, is patriotic pride. It comes in all forms, service to the community via teachers, first responders, military, volunteers and community activists. They commit their lives, and that of their families for the better good of all Americans. Our national anthem is their pride, their motivation, their strength. It's the hug they get after a bad day, a warm energy to keep going when they miss their families, a comforting hope when one is lost. To pay respects, by standing, is the only hope some people have to keep going. Now, instead of focusing on social injustices, these fans are backed into a corner to defend, what they deem, is a national disrespect to a fundamental value. The message is not getting across. It's being twisted and diluted. The result? A no-win argument with no resolution in sight, AND, the association of a national love with a grievance that will never be heard. I'm saddened to see such hatred distort such a pure American light. I pray the design of these outcries will be reconfigured, in a venue that won't force people to arm themselves instead of keeping an open mind. I, personally, have spent a lifetime campaigning for equal rights AND promoting patriotic love of my country. I will NOT dishonor either. Until either argument proposes a reasonable resolution, without interruption of neutral territory, I'll find another way to entertain friends and family. Football was a way for people of all political views, all orientations, all races and ages to come together and laugh, shout, and forget life for a while. I hope that will happen again, one day.