The Elephant in the Room

At the ballgame Sunday, I checked to see if any of the players took a knee or did something else in protest during the National Anthem.  But all the Royals and White Sox stood for the anthem, like me.

Professional athletes make imperfect symbols and/or champions for social issues.  The player who looks ever so uncomfortable visiting the children’s hospital doesn’t suddenly become articulate on the issue of police violence.  By and large, athletes are simply a bunch of young adults who play professional sports.  At twenty-five, they’re overpaid and underprepared to do anything else.  Consider Giants’ receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who raised a fist after scoring one touchdown against the Eagles Sunday, then mimicked a dog urinating after scoring another.  Beckham, who turns 25 in November, claimed to be confused over “the rules on what you can do celebrating.”  Uh-huh.   

But outside of Colin Kaepernick and a few others (and Kaepernick has tried to make himself into a knowledgeable social critic), no one asked to become symbols or activists; the job was foisted on them by the man in the White House.  Compared to Donald Trump (whose name rhymes with “clown,” if you try) those athletes protesting during the National Anthem will all get their faces on Mt. Rushmore before Trump ever does.  And that includes Odell Beckham.