If President Trump's anti-free speech remarks targeting Colin Kaepernick and his National Anthem protest successors didn't spook NFL owners, the wave of dissent shown by players from across the league on Saturday, September 23, most certainly did. As the contentious atmosphere began spawning responses from the likes of Reggie Bush, Brandon Marshall, T.J. Ward, Zach Brown, Michael Thomas, Eric Ebron, Chris Conley, Arian Foster, Bishop Sankey, Rishard Matthews, Cecil Shorts III and Justin Forsett, so too would the owners themselves begin to come forward and denounce the President's comments.
“Our country needs unifying leadership right now, not more divisiveness. We need to seek to understand each other and have civil discourse instead of condemnation and sound bites,” Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross posed, before continuing on to say, “These are smart young men of character who want to make our world a better place for everyone. They wanted to start a conversation and are making a difference in our community.” New York Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch also spoke out against the nature of the remarks, issuing a statement that read in part: “Comments like we heard last night from the president are inappropriate, offensive and divisive. We are proud of our players, the vast majority of whom use their NFL platform to make a positive difference in our society.”
By late evening the Atlanta Falcons owner, Arthur Blank, would join the pack, stating, “Creating division or demonizing viewpoints that are different than our own accomplishes nothing positive and undermines our collective ability to achieve the ideals of our democracy.” Ross, Blank, Mara and Tisch's responses came within hours of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell condemning Trump's rhetoric in an official statement which lambasted him for showing little care for the NFL's interests. Several team executives would come behind owners showing vocal support for their players, including the CEOs of the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers, and the chairman of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Source: fox61.com
