The NFL and Patriotism as a Marketing Tool

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) kneels down with teammates before the U.S. national anthem was played ahead of an NFL football game against Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium in London, Sunday Oct. 1, 2017. Saints players then stood when the anthem was played. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

The NFL owners have decided to fight a recent loss of television viewers with a dose of patriotism (NFL Policy Will Require Players on Field to Stand for Anthem, Show Flag 'Proper Respect', Scooby Axson, Sports Illustrated, May 23, 2018). The issue worsened last year when Donald Trump said that owners should fire players who disrespected the flag. One problem is that it's not clear whether the viewer loss is due to player demonstrations or changes in the broadcast market and viewing technology.

Another problem is that the player's union has not agreed to the new rules. The owners are allowing the players to remain in the locker rooms during the anthem, but the NFL Players Association has said:

Patriotic Ceremonies

Exceptions to majority rule

Students pledging to the flag with the Bellamy salute, March
1941

No official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion. . . To believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary and spontaneous instead of a compulsory routine is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds.
― U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 1943, striking down a requirement that school children salute the flag.

One of the things that the flag stands for, the Court said that day, was the right not to salute it.
— Ira Glasser, 1991. The Supreme Court decision was made in the middle of World War II.


Iwo Jima Flag Raising, Joe Rosenthal, 2/23/45, ©1945 Associated Press

World Trade Center Flag Raising, Thomas E. Franklin, 9/11/01, ©2001 The Record (Bergen County, NJ)

Two patriotic moments. Voluntary, spontaneous, not routine.