But do players have the right to protest at NFL sanctioned events, including games? That is a purely legal question governed by the players' contracts and union agreements. The league PROBABLY DOES have the right to prohibit some, or all, players from exercising their constitutional right of first amendment expression at an NFL event. The NFL is not a governmental entity.

Now should the NFL go after the players? My personal opinion on this is that they should let the players do what they want, as long as their actions don't disrupt events. The players will either make their point and people will come to agree with them, or they won't.

What is also important is how the fan base reacts. Those who object to the player's protests SHOULD voice those objections, but they shouldn't try to bring down the league thru boycotts, as long as the players show up, play as hard as they can, and don't disrupt the game.

In my book people are getting far too worked up over what the players are doing. The players actions reflect what they have seen themselves. Even myself, a white, fairly wealthy man, has seen and heard far too many white people openly discriminate. I live in Northern VA, supposedly the liberal part of the state. I've listened to cops saying that they pull over blacks just because they are driving expensive cars, checking out black kids walking in supposedly white neighborhoods, who turned out to live there. I've got a black neighbor in the Air Force, married to a white women who was also in the Air Force. The stories they tell us are sick. Recent stories.

My opinion is that these things are still happening in 2017. And it needs to stop.