Recently named "Black Journalist of the Year" by the liberal-minded National Association of Black Journalists, Jemele Hill has joined the media lemmings claiming President Donald Trump forced the NFL to ban player protests. The senior correspondent and columnist for ESPN and The Undefeated also says the NFL sold out its players when it put an end to anthem protests.
Attaching Trump to the protest ban is hardly an original thought of Hill's. It's become a well-worn theme in the left-stream media echo chambers since the NFL announced its new policy last week. But here's her take on Trump, whom she called a "white supremacist" in a tweet last fall, in connection to the policy:
"It’s no secret that the league was motivated to come up with this not-so-genius strategy because it’s scared of President Donald Trump and worried about alienating corporate partners and a subset of its fans.
"But if it thought this policy would get the president to stop verbally assaulting the NFL and its players, Trump reminded everyone before the ink was even dry on the new rule that he will control the narrative on the player protests no matter what it does."
She was referring to Trump's appearance last week on Fox & Friends when he said, "I don’t think people should be staying in the locker rooms. You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn’t be playing, you shouldn’t be there. Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country.”
Hill speculates, "Trump probably was never going to back off, and now that the league has gifted him a political victory, we can all set our watch for the moment when he is before a salivating audience boasting that he got the NFL to kneel."
The NFL, Hill writes, "is full of it. There is no other way to say it: The NFL sold out its players with this new, thoughtless national anthem policy — which it arrogantly believed would not just end the player protests during the national anthem but also finally move the league into a delightfully neutral, nonpolitical safe space."
Hill called the NFL "spineless and weak," and said it should have left well enough alone because the protests were on the decrease late last season. Incredulously, she claims "there was no indication that there would be players protesting this season." If that was the general consensus, there would have been no need for an NFL policy banning the kneeling and fist-raising that incensed the nation.
"Rather than let things play out, the NFL created a new controversy, more animosity and negative headlines just to appease the wrong sensibilities," Hill says. "Some will argue that the NFL was merely being proactive in protecting its product, but all it did was further expose how out of touch it is and prove the merits of (Colin) Kaepernick’s and (Eric) Reid’s collusion cases against them." These are the two former NFL protesters who haven't attracted any offers since their contracts expired. Both are suing the NFL and alleging collusion to keep them out of the league.
Hill longs for an NFL that is more like the NBA because it's less "suppressive" and "seems to have genuine respect for the voices in its league." She quoted Golden State coach Steve Kerr, who ridiculed the NFL for its ban and said, “They’re just playing to their fan base, basically trying to use the anthem as fake patriotism, nationalism, scaring people. It’s idiotic."
Hill also played the race card against the National Football League: "The NFL not only doesn’t care that its league is starting to have an old-man-yelling-at-clouds kind of feel, but it also doesn’t seem to care that it is alienating many of its black and brown fans."
She hasn't convinced former NFL great Eric Dickerson of that though. The Hall of Fame running back, an African-American, told TMZ Sports he would stand for the anthem if he was still playing.
