NFL 2017-2018 Season

[Ryan Ruck]

Every single NFL team has, in one form or another, conducted themselves contrary to the NFL handbook regarding conduct and respect specified for the flag/anthem ceremony.

And no action has been taken against any of them by NFL leadership/.

[Brian Baldwin]

When the Steelers did what they did, I stopped watching the NFL. They may think they were just trying to get outside of the whole thing, but in the end they made my Son feel like WTF. So unless things drastically change, (and I don't foresee it), this is my last post on anything NFL. 47 years a fan shot to shit in a single afternoon.

[Ryan Ruck]

Yep, I'm pretty much in the same spot and not just because the Bengals are playing like shit (I actually heard they won against the Browns last Sunday, not like that's a high bar or anything). Not wearing any of my Bengals gear even though I paid a decent bit for, rather ironically, some of their Salute To Service gear.

I think, at this point, the only thing that will get me back is a public apology by Goodell and statement that he/they will enforce the NFL rulebook regarding conduct during the Anthem.

[Ryan Ruck]

Poll: NFL Sinks to Least Popular Top Professional or College Sport

October 8, 2017

The National Football League's popularity plunged dismally this month after players, coaches, and owners across the league protested the national anthem.

The NFL is now the least popular among top professional or college sports.

Poll: @NFL popularity drops below @NBA. pic.twitter.com/T7kUlvtI5p

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 8, 2017

In the month of September, positive ratings sank from 57 percent to 44 percent. Unfavorable ratings are at 40 percent.

Among a general sample of registered voters, September showed a drop in favorable ratings from 57 to 44 percent according to the Winston Poll from the Winston Group.

Unfavorable ratings went from 23 to 40 percent. One important demographic, men ages 34-54, showed a more dramatic increase in disenchantment with the NFL.

That group went from 73 percent favorable and 19 percent unfavorable to 42 percent favorable and 47 percent unfavorable.

[Ryan Ruck]

Papa John's Says NFL Is Hurting Pizza Sales, Blames NFL 'Leadership' For Issue

The official pizza sponsor of the NFL says it's losing money because of the ongoing anthem controversy

November 1, 2017

Everyone wants a piece of the national anthem controversy surrounding the NFL, but not as many people want a piece of Papa John's product lately, and the two things are connected, according to the pizza chain's founder.

Speaking on an earnings call Wednesday, John Schnatter, founder of Papa John's, blamed the NFL for a dropoff in sales at the pizza chain and pointed directly to the national anthem controversy.

"The NFL has hurt us by not resolving the current debacle to the players' and owners' satisfaction," Schnatter said via Bloomberg. "NFL leadership has hurt Papa John's shareholders."

Even more specifically, Schnatter, who appears multiple times per week on NFL advertisements that usually feature Peyton Manning as well, blamed Roger Goodell for the pizza sale problem.

"Leadership starts at the top, and this is an example of poor leadership," Schnatter said.

On Wednesday, Papa John's shares fell to a three-month low of $62.14 (as of about noon ET), dropping more than $5 per share with the news of the struggles on the earnings call.

According to Bloomberg, the dropoff was the biggest fall in eight months for Papa John's coming on the heels of the company's profits falling short of third-quarter estimates.

Papa John's, according to Bloomberg, "also trimmed its revenue and profit forecasts for the year" during the call.

The connection that Schnatter is making here has to be related to the claim from some folks, primarily on social media, that they are boycotting the NFL during the anthem controversy. As a result, some NFL sponsors are concerned about the effect such a hypothetical boycott could have on sales of their respective products. Papa John's has been the official pizza sponsor of the NFL since 2010.

Schnatter said that "negative consumer sentiment" -- essentially the pizza chain's association with the NFL -- primarily fueled the lack of pizza sales during the quarter and resulted in the drop in stock price.

[Ryan Ruck]

NFL to Cut Breast Cancer, Military Charity Funds to Pay for Proposed Social Justice Activism

December 4, 2017

The NFL announced this week they will pay $100 million over 7 years to social justice causes.

This comes after players continue their kneeling protest of the US National Anthem.

But players are reporting the league is taking money from breast cancer and the military to pay for the funding.

BizPac Review and Slate.com:

According to one of the athletes at the forefront of the protests, San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid [#35 in the photograph below], the windfall will come at the expense of the league’s planned financial support for breast cancer and military charities.

“In the discussion that we had, Malcolm conveyed to us—based on discussions that he had with the NFL — that the money would come from funds that are already allocated to breast cancer awareness and Salute to Service,” Reid told Slate.

Salute to Service supports military personnel and raises awareness of their sacrifices.

“So it would really be no skin off the owners’ backs: They would just move the money from those programs to this one,” he continued.

The player protests, sparked when former 49ers player Colin Kaepernick began protesting racial oppression in America, originated in the liberal city of San Francisco, which found itself in the news this week as a jury acquitted an illegal immigrant who was deported five times for the death of Kate Steinle.

[Brian Baldwin]

This thread for this season is officially done. Hopefully next year we'll have a less dramatic NFL to discuss.