Colin Kaepernick refuses “to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people”...

Saints defiant after military vet declines honor

METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints released a statement Thursday saying it is "unfortunate and disappointing" that a retired Navy commander who declined an honor at Sunday's game has been telling media outlets he no longer supports NFL football because of player protests throughout the league before and during the national anthem.

"We will not allow Mr. [John] Wells' decision and subsequent media appearances to distract our players and organization from continuing to honor and support our military and veterans," the Saints said in their statement, which stressed the organization's "unwavering 50-plus year commitment to honor, support and recognize our servicemen and women and veterans."

In the statement, the Saints also emphasized their players have stood for the anthem in every game since the franchise's inception in 1967, with the exception of "the Week Three game at Carolina when a few of our players did sit."

Since then, Saints players have chosen to kneel before the anthem in a display of unity, then stand during the anthem. Still, many fans have booed the kneeling players inside the Superdome even though the booing has not taken place during the anthem.

Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro and defensive end Cameron Jordan touched upon this on their Twitter accounts Thursday, with Vaccaro writing, "Our crowd boos us before the anthem, therefore it's not about the flag, it's about the fact we are bringing awareness to a cause that makes people uncomfortable."

Jordan tweeted about how fans have "ignored" the reason behind the player protests.

https://twitter.com/camjordan94/status/926242985364414464

https://twitter.com/camjordan94/status/926244027451789312

Wells, who is the executive director of the national Military Veterans Advocacy in Slidell, Louisiana, was selected as a Peoples Health Champion, an award given at Saints home games to recognize "the exceptional achievements of Louisiana residents age 65 and older."

However, Wells declined the honor, calling the protests during the anthem a "slap in the face to veterans" in a news release and saying he could not "in good conscience" enter an NFL stadium.

"Although I am touched and honored to be selected for such an award, the ongoing controversy with NFL players' disrespect for the national flag forces me to decline to participate in the presentation," Wells said according to the release. "Since this award is tainted with the dishonorable actions of the NFL and its players, I cannot accept it."

The Saints released their lengthy statement in response on Thursday afternoon:

"Respectfully and honorably, we chose Mr. Wells for the Peoples Health Champion Award purposefully for this game to bring to light the exact issues that he and his organization represent -- the health and well-being of our military, veterans and their families. Unfortunately, he has chosen very publicly not to accept this honor and refused the opportunity to promote the very cause for which he was being honored and distract from awareness we hoped to build throughout our community. We respect his decision, he has that right, and we thank him for his service to our country and his past efforts on behalf of the military and veterans."

The Saints went on to list the community appearances and financial commitments the team has made to military and related organizations, and to stress that owner Tom Benson -- a former Naval officer -- has been honored and recognized as a longtime supporter of the military. They said they would use the time at Sunday's game that had been allotted for Wells' award to "highlight non-political military advocacy programs and encourage our fans and community to join us in contributing to these groups who directly support our military and veterans."

stringer bell wrote: »

https://twitter.com/bomani_jones/status/925741231833042945

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Papa John's could end NFL sponsorship after anthem protests - Business Insider

• Papa John's executives say the chain is evaluating its NFL sponsorship deal.
• Earlier this week, Papa John's CEO blamed the league's "poor leadership" and declining ratings following players' protests on the chain's subpar sales.

Papa John's is reevaluating its NFL sponsorship after controversy involving players' protests during the national anthem engulfed the chain.

"If the viewership decline continues, we will need to shift into things that work more effectively for us," Papa John’s President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Ritchie told the Wall Street Journal on Friday.

On Wednesday, Papa John's CEO and founder John Schnatter slammed the NFL, blaming the league's "poor leadership" and declining ratings on the pizza chain's sales slump. According to Schnatter, controversy surrounding players' protests had played a role in ratings decline.

The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the anthem last year to protest racial injustice and police brutality. The controversy over the protests was renewed in September after President Donald Trump said players who did so should be fired.

"We are totally disappointed that the NFL and its leadership did not resolve the ongoing situation to the satisfaction of all parties long ago," Schnatter said in a call with investors on Wednesday. "This should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago."

Currently, the NFL is crucial to Papa John's business. The company began its partnership with the NFL in 2010 and has "Preferred Pizza" partnerships with 23 NFL teams. Last year, the company signed a multi-year partnership with the NFL and the Super Bowl.

Ritchie "emphatically denied" to the Wall Street Journal that Papa John's had pressured the league to ban protests. Instead, he said the situation had revealed issues with the chain's decision to aggressively invest in television advertising, allocating a "huge percentage" of its fall and winter marketing budget to the NFL.

After President Trump tweeted in late September that players kneeling are "disrespecting our Flag & Country," many of his supporters started canceling NFL TV bundles and burning merchandise. This week, many on the right rallied around Papa John's after Schnatter's comments.

However, the chain also faced backlash from progressives for seeming to blame players' protest for subpar sales. Other pizza brands also piled onto Papa John's, implying that the quality of the chain's pizza — not NFL players — were to blame for the sales slump.

Alt-Right White Supremacists Claim Papa John's As Official Pizza

By Cristina Maza

Neo-Nazis and white supremacists have always been distasteful, but now it turns out their taste in pizza is terrible, too.

The white supremacist website the Daily Stormer announced Thursday that Papa John’s pizza is the official pie of the alt-right, posting a picture of a pizza with a ? fashioned from pepperoni slices. The caption reads, "Papa John: Official pizza of the alt-right?"



The pronouncement came after Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter, whose pizza is an official NFL sponsor, blamed his company’s recent losses on NFL players protesting police brutality during the national anthem.

Schnatter was widely accused of racism and of making bad pizza. But white supremacists came to his defense.

“This might be the first time ever in modern history that a major institution is going to be completely destroyed explicitly because of public outrage over their anti-white agenda,” Daily Stormer writer Adrian Sol posted, referring to the NFL and adding disturbingly, “The ? fatigue caused by this whole NFL fiasco is reaching heights that even I didn’t fully expect.”

This isn’t the first time the far-right has endorsed a brand and demonstrated how hateful ideology can permeate everything from sports to retail. Last November, the neo-Nazis said New Balance shoes were the “official shoes of white people” because one of the company’s top executives criticized former President Barack Obama and said that he supported Trump.

The Daily Stormer also declared Wendy’s the “official burger of the Neo-? Alt-Right movement” after a representative of the fast-food chain posted a picture of an alt-right meme on the company’s Twitter account.

The brands, however, have been quick to disassociate themselves from white supremacists. New Balance released a statement saying it is a “values-driven” organization that believes in “humanity, integrity, community and mutual respect for people around the world.”

In an email to the Huffington Post, Papa John’s also said it condemns racism in all forms.

“We do not want these individuals or groups to buy our pizza,” the company said in a statement.

That said, Papa John's CEO Schnatter has earned praise from the right wing for criticizing Obamacare in 2012 and also donating around $1,000 to the Trump campaign.