NFL players, taking a stand – or a knee – during the national anthem has become an increasingly hot topic across DFW lately.
People with strong opinions are sounding off on both sides of the issue, some of them inside the radio booth. The conversation has been dominating sports talk shows like J Dub City on 103.3 FM.
“The convergence of sports and politics has been front and center here this morning after really an unprecedented weekend,” said host Will Chambers, kicking off the final hour of his Monday show.
Chambers and Jean Jacques Taylor dove right in to controversial comments by President Trump at a rally last Friday.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects out flag, say get that son of a ***** off the field right now, out, he’s fired?” President Donald Trump said, addressing a crowd in Alabama.
“Who says 'hey I don't want you to disrespect the flag?' Who disagrees with that? Nobody. But it's never been about that. It started out as police brutality and then people have shifted it and changed it and moved it,” Taylor said.
Over the weekend, players and coaches linked arms, some taking a stance because of politics.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“Sometimes these two worlds collide,” Chambers said.
“Whose fault is that?” Taylor shot back.
“Well, it ain't mine,” said Chambers.
“It's the president's fault this time,” Taylor said.
The duo combed through tons of tweets and texts on the show, as well as taking calls from listeners, acknowledging both sides of the debate.
“We're talking about this issue and dissecting it more now than we have in the last nine months,” Bailey from Plano said.
“There are people out there that support Donald Trump. There are people out there that don't support Donald Trump,” Chambers said.
A heated exchange came over the argument from one caller that players were kneeling while on the job.
“I bet you didn't have a single solitary problem, cause I sure didn't, with JJ Watt using his platform to raise $38 million on the job,” Taylor said.
“Let me know next time at your office that everyone stands in the morning to do the national anthem before you get going,” Chambers quipped.
