NFL owners approve team-by-team national anthem policy, will allow players to remain in locker room [View all]

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post



By Mark Maske
May 23 at 12:03 PM

ATLANTA — NFL owners approved a new national anthem policy Wednesday that gives individual teams the authority to set their own anthem-related rules and permits players to remain in the locker room during the playing of the anthem, according to a person familiar with the deliberations.

The new policy eliminates the current requirement from the league’s game operations manual for a player to be on the field for the playing of the anthem, allowing a player to remain in the locker room. Teams would then have the ability to set their own policy for players who choose to take the field for the anthem, including the ability to discipline a player for any protest during the national anthem.

Teams would not have the ability to force players to take the field for the anthem, however.

The new policy also is expected to contain a clause that the league could fine a team for any protest by a player on the sideline during the anthem, according to a person familiar with the owners’ deliberations. Any team that wants to allow players to protest would have to be willing to pay a potential fine by the league.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2018/05/23/nfl-owners-leaning-towards-requiring-players-to-stand-for-national-anthem-or-remain-in-locker-room/

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UPDATE:

NFL's new policy on national anthem: Players, teams can be fined if they don't stand

Charles Robinson
NFL columnist
Yahoo SportsMay 23, 2018, 12:20 PM

ATLANTA – The NFL has an official rule against kneeling during the national anthem.

Following a year of hand-wringing and disagreement inside the league’s ownership ranks, team owners approved a new measure on Wednesday that gives players the option of staying in the locker room during the national anthem if they don’t wish to stand during the ceremonies. Under the new rule, players who choose to be on the field during the anthem will be required to stand. If a player or team employee is on the field during the anthem and chooses not to stand, that player’s franchise will be fined by the NFL. In turn, players and employees who choose to attend the anthem ceremonies but do not stand will also be eligible for a fine by their franchise, if the team chooses to levy one.

The league’s official statement on the policy change said, “The Commissioner will impose appropriate discipline on league personnel who do not stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem.”

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