The argument that kneeling during the national anthem constitutes disrespect of the flag is crumbling quickly.
Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, in response to a Twitter user who predicted that Watt won’t be taking a knee during the anthem, made two comments. First, he said “don’t speak for me.” Second, Watt said “if you still think it’s about disrespecting the flag or our military, you clearly haven’t been listening.”
For as obvious as the point is becoming, there are still people (including those in high public office) who conflate kneeling with disrespect. Plenty of them have chimed in with responses to Watt’s tweet. Still, the more those people hear that kneeling isn’t disrespect (especially from prominent white players), the more likely it will be that they will change their thinking.
It will be impossible to get 100 percent of the country to agree on anything. At some point, the NFL, its teams, its owners, its coaches, and its players need to ignore misguided voices of dissent that will be remembered unfavorably by history.