QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What do you think of player protests during the National Anthem at NFL games?

Members of the News Editing class are asking this question on campus this afternoon. We’ll post the responses we get below:

“I am very against it. The NFL should not allow players to do that.  Everybody gets mad that people call baseball America’s game instead of football, but yet the NFL wants to protest.” Connor Grindstaff, a sophomore Business Management Major at Wingate University.

“I don’t have any particular feelings about it. If you want to kneel you can, or you don’t have to.”–Jailyn Spann, psychology freshman at Wingate University.

“I think its effective in getting people’s attention, but maybe it could’ve been done in a different way. I understand that they are kneeling for a great cause and I feel like something needed to be done about what is going on in our country. At least this kind of protest is peaceful. We have seen much worse from all different backgrounds of people in recent years.” — Brea Childs, senior, Communication.

“I know what it’s really about. They aren’t protesting the flag and the troops. They are protesting systematic racism and how black people are mistreated in America. Some people are taking it the wrong way” — Alexandria Nelson, junior Criminal Justice major

“On one side, it’s better than rioting in the street. On the other, for the people that are boycotting the NFL because of what the president said, aren’t you hurting the players too?”–Abel Jorge, sophomore, criminal justice major

“If you want to take a knee, stay in the locker room. I’m not saying that you can’t protest, it’s just some people take offense to taking a knee during the national anthem. There are other ways of protesting. I’m not saying they aren’t right, I’m just saying they don’t have to make a scene about it.” — Trevor Zaruba, senior, management.