NFL players tribute to 9/11

[powersurge]

Wait, help me out on this one...are our troops fighting for freedom or for the use of primary colors?

[Jinjoe]

i don't understand how brightly colored and extravagantly adorned equipment is a tribute to those who died.

maybe i'm just a somber jerk, but the whole "red, white, and blue america woot!" attitude towards 9/11 always seemed strange to me. i pay respects to tragic events with the color black. and simple understated design.

if i were a player/team that wanted to pay tribute, i'd likely put a black ribbon patch with 9/11/01 written on there somewhere. it wasn't just americans that died that day, and if i had been a victim of those attacks, i'd prefer to not be remembered simply by brightly colored american flag designs.

those make sense for the fourth of july. a festive celebration of the founding of a nation... not so much to remember a tragic cheapshot attack in which many died horrible deaths.

but then again, i'm more of a "moment of silence" kind of guy.

i just don't see the connection between overt patriotism and honoring victims of a terrorist attack. i didn't in 2001/2002, and i don't in 2011.

Well, I am sorry you don't see the honor in honoring the memory of Americans! I feel so sorry for people who are not proud of the red, white, and blue. Yet, that is why we fight for each persons individual right, but that doesn't mean that I do not understand it.

There is no reason an individual player needs to wear red, white and blue to make a giant statement. It's all about pandering and saying "I'm more patriotic than you, just look at my shoes and gloves!!!"

League wide, there will be ceremonies and moments of silence. Everyone will be wearing ribbons. Anything beyond that is extraneous and just serves to bring more attention to the individual player.

We get it. It's 9/11. It was the most horrifying terrorist attack on U.S. soil. We don't need constant "never forget" references to remember the event, nor the lives of those lost. If you need to wear obnoxious flag-patterned clothing and accessories to let you and others know that you remember the date, are you really honoring the dead?

Dude you can choose read into this gesture any way you want, it doesn't make it factual. Do they need to wear Red, White & Blue to feel patriotic? No. Neither does one need to have a moment of silence, or wear understated ribbons, or have a league wide NFL mandated ruling where everyone wears the same patches. This is the method some these players chose. No method is more appropriate than the other.

[nuordr]

NOTHING

[Gothamite]

Wake up, unless you are anti-American, you should understand that honoring someone is remembering what happened. There is no reasoning for calling out a player that wants to honor the past! It is simply un-American! Your stand has no rights here! If you don't like it, then keep you mouth shut, because the people that were lost were Americans and for those that honor them are patriotic. Maybe you are not old enough to understand honor and loyalty to the past individuals that lost their life, but who are you to call out the athletes that choose to remember to lost? You are no one! Yes, you are nobody and you should not question things that are patriotic and AMERICAN!!!!!!! In order to REMEMBER we need to talk about it! If we push it under the rug, then it will be forgotten!

now I'm starting to fear that you are indeed serious.

[OnWis97]

Just by simply remembering the lost, you are honoring the dead. Wake up, unless you are anti-American, you should understand that honoring someone is remembering what happened. There is no reasoning for calling out a player that wants to honor the past! It is simply un-American! Your stand has no rights here! If you don't like it, then keep you mouth shut, because the people that were lost were Americans and for those that honor them are patriotic. Maybe you are not old enough to understand honor and loyalty to the past individuals that lost their life, but who are you to call out the athletes that choose to remember to lost? You are no one! Yes, you are nobody and you should not question things that are patriotic and AMERICAN!!!!!!! In order to REMEMBER we need to talk about it! If we push it under the rug, then it will be forgotten!

I have italicized phrases we like to use. I have bolded what are, ironically, probably the three most un-American statements in this thread. Let's examine:

1. "Your stand has no rights here." I guess that depends on where "here" is. On this board? At the risk of speaking for the mods team, it certainly does. If "here" means "Amercia", then I am pretty sure it does as well. I am quite certain I've read that somewhere.
   
2. "The keep your mouth shut." You have the right to say it, but it, but I lump it in with the other un-American statements, because I've heard so many people say that before...if you don't wave a flag fervently you are not patriotic. Be like me or "shut up."
   
3. "You should not question things that are patriotic and AMERICAN!!!!!!!" There is no change to the number of exclamation points that would help this. Questioning authority, questioning the prevailing winds...that is as American as apple-freaking-pie. It's what allowed roughly half of this country to question our former president and the other half to question the current president. The day we decide people can't question things in America is the day we become one of those countries I assume you hate.
   

You forgot "America: Love it or Leave it." The most un-American statement made by those that confuse patriotism with nationalism. You don't have the first damn clue what patriotism is. It's fine to show it with a flag in your yard or patriotic clothing on 9-11. It's not wrong. But remembering and honoring the same people and day does not have to be how YOU want everyone to do it.

To be patriotic, you first have to have an understanding of this country. And that understanding has to go beyond "USA #1!". You have to appreciate the beauty of the Constitution: the recognition its formers had of from where tyranny comes leading to the provisions of such things as freedom of speech; not only can your leaders be questioned but they should. You have the right to disagree with the rest of us (because this is, after all, America*), but to not appreciate the other side's ability to question (what I suspect is) the majority is to not take the time to appreciate what America is all about. Perhaps it not even patriotic.

I am from Minnesota. I have an uncle who is the most knowledgeable Twins fan I know. He probably has an unhealthy connection between the team's results and his demeanor. He knows more about baseball and the Twins than anyone I know. And he does not own so much as a Twins hat or T-shirt. Meanwhile, people who don't know more than "Mauer and Morneau" come to games decked out in Twins gear...they may look like "bigger fans" but are they? Similarly, those who may wear black, or not show their feelings on their sleeves at all are not necessarily less patriotic than those NFL fans you'll see today with red/white/blue body paint on TV. You can't tell how someone feels by their outward appearance...even when it comes to patriotism or the ten-year anniversary of 9-11.

I do not accuse Briggs' gesture of not being patriotic or in true honor of the victims...likewise, please do not accuse those not trying to wear red/white/blue shoes and gloves (and are content with the ribbon sewn to their jersey) as being any less patriotic than Briggs.

*(Ok, actually it's a Canadian-based message board)

[nuordr]

Fellow members of the board. I want to apologize to everyone for my above posts. It is not my right to throw my judgement on other people. When I wrote that last big post, I had just come home heavily intoxicated from a celebration to honor people that died on 911 and I was very emotional at the time and I wrote thing on this board that I did not have the right to say. Therefore, I apologize if I offended anyone and lets start talking about sports again.

[Gothamite]

Deal.

[ColeJ]

-head explodes-

[powersurge]

-head explodes-

haha...mine too

[OnWis97]

Deal.

Deal, I guess...but I did not get to see the response to my post, which I stand by.

[Gothamite]

While I cannot speak for him, I believe he was admitting that you were correct, hence his desire to end the conversation and move on.

[powersurge]

I'm pleased by what I'm seeing in general from the highlights of various NFL games today in regards to not taking the tribute way over the top. I was worried some players would have over done it.

[Milo Meningocele]

Anybody else think the Tampa Bay Bucs cheerleaders' sexed up military-themed uniforms were offensive and disrespectful today? Even if they weren't specific replicas, I've always thought service uniforms were pretty serious business, not to be played around with. It just seems like something you'd see at a strip club, where decorum and respect don't matter. And shouldn't any observances or nods to 9/11 be somber and reverent? To me, it feels wrong to have a playful or sexy element involved in it.

[BigEd76]

Some pics from today:

[BigBubba]

^Was it intentionally set to be played between NY and Washington, DC?

[LetsGoOakland9]

I don't mind red, white, and blue to commemorate 9/11, because it was an attack on this country, and displaying those colors shows the country's strength and shows that America stood strong through the attacks

[LEWJ]

Wow those look beautiful with the Giants colors/uniforms.

[ARTnSocal]

Just by simply remembering the lost, you are honoring the dead. Wake up, unless you are anti-American, you should understand that honoring someone is remembering what happened. There is no reasoning for calling out a player that wants to honor the past! It is simply un-American! Your stand has no rights here! If you don't like it, then keep you mouth shut, because the people that were lost were Americans and for those that honor them are patriotic. Maybe you are not old enough to understand honor and loyalty to the past individuals that lost their life, but who are you to call out the athletes that choose to remember to lost? You are no one! Yes, you are nobody and you should not question things that are patriotic and AMERICAN!!!!!!! In order to REMEMBER we need to talk about it! If we push it under the rug, then it will be forgotten!

....

While I can appreciate your gesture of apologizing for what you posted, I would have to believe that anyone from the many other countries who lost loved-ones would take great offense to you referring to the the people lost as Americans, as if if only affected our people.

While the vast majority of casualties from 9/11 were indeed American, citizens from over 50 countries perished, making the count close to 15% foreign citizens, so it wasn't just American lives. There was a large count of British, Dominicans, citizens of India among the large count from these 50+ countries who also lost their lives when the Towers went down, Pentagon got hit, and the jet went down in PA.

American people have somewhat of a reputation worldwide as being insular, 9-11 isn't just about 'us' ...

and as Forrest Gump would say, 'That's all I got to say about that'

[Mongoose]

Wow those look beautiful with the Giants colors/uniforms.

Agreed, I have never understood why NFL teams (excluding the Bills) do not use team colored cleats.

[charger77]

Anybody else think the Tampa Bay Bucs cheerleaders' sexed up military-themed uniforms were offensive and disrespectful today? Even if they weren't specific replicas, I've always thought service uniforms were pretty serious business, not to be played around with. It just seems like something you'd see at a strip club, where decorum and respect don't matter. And shouldn't any observances or nods to 9/11 be somber and reverent? To me, it feels wrong to have a playful or sexy element involved in it.

Agreed, it was distasteful.