The Boycott Is Over

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The Boycott Is Over

In the September issue of The Lyfe Magazine, I wrote about my decision to boycott this year’s NFL football season. If you have not had a chance to download the issue or read from your current subscription, I hope you will. (Click link above to purchase your copy.)

My boycott was a silent protest to the NFL’s stance on the players’ right to kneel during the anthem if they chose to. The backlash some players, Colin Kaepernick in particular, have received has been unfair and their intentions completely misunderstood and purposefully twisted. I wholeheartedly agreed with Colin’s reasoning. His silent protest was not un-American but telling him and others they can’t do it is un-American!

Although my personal boycott was not going to affect the NFL in any way, it made me feel better to do something. As mentioned in the previous article, I also wanted to make a statement that I knew my friends and family would understand. They all know how much I enjoy watching football. To boycott the entire season would have been a huge sacrifice of pleasure for me.

The silent protest was successful throughout the preseason. I did not watch any of the games, minus the day I was at my brother’s house and he had a game on the television. Even then I didn’t watch it so much as it was simply background noise while playing with my niece.

Last Saturday as I camped out in my living room to watch College GameDay, my daughter mentioned the NFL season. When I shared with her I would not be watching any of the games, she asked why. After explaining the boycott to her, the response I received was exactly what I had hoped for: “Mommy, I’m so proud of you. I know how much you love football!”

It wasn’t that I wanted her to feel proud of me but I wanted her to recognize the sacrifice. I wanted her to realize there will be times in life each individual will have to stand for what they believe in and sacrifice will likely be a part of that.

On Tuesday of this week, the NFL announced it is backing the players’ right to kneel if they so choose. The timing of their decision (on the heels of Nike throwing their full support behind Colin Kaepernick, almost as if they needed Nike’s support to do the right thing themselves) is interesting to me but I’ll accept it none the less.

So, the boycott is over and just in time for the start of the regular season!