Roger Goodell asks teamowners, NFL players to "move past this controversy"
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell issued a memo Tuesday afternoon to all 32 teams addressing recent protests during the national anthem.
Goodell says he wants the to league to "move past this controversy" and expressed hope that all players would once-again stand.
For the past two games most players for the Green Bay Packers have linked armed during the national anthem. Aaron Rodgers has said it is meant to be a show of unity.
But the issue intensified last weekend after the Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys and Cowboys team-owner Jerry Jones threatened to bench players who "disrespect the flag".
In Milwaukee sports talk radio at times sounds like political talk radio.That's just the recent reality for "The Big Show" on 105.7 FM The Fan - co-hosted by former packer Gary Ellerson.
"I think the endgame is for Roger Goodell - and I think that's what he's doing - is getting the owners and the players together at the table and try to figure out what's the endgame," Ellerson said.
In his letter Goodell expressed respect for players' opinions but also wrote "...Like many of our fans, we believe that everyone should stand for the national anthem. It is an important moment in our game. We want to honor our flag and our country, and our fans expect that of us."
But some fans don't fully agree with that assessment.
"We've had a lot of veterans call in to our station and said 'Listen Gary, we fought for the rights for these players to have freedom to do what they need to do," Ellerson said.
"I got into sports talk radio because I wanted to have a job that was fun," co-host of "The Big Show" Ramie Makhlouf said. "I wanted to be a distraction from the issues that we're now talking about. I take pride in being the distraction. But sometimes those lines of politics and social issues and the lines of sports and entertainment - they cross paths."
Goodell letter also said that he hoped this discussion would continue at a league meeting next week in New York. It is likely that the Green Bay Packers 'arm-linking' demonstrations will be talked about during that discussion.