I hate the Steelers more than I hate trees, but this former Steeler has some good thoughts on a solution to the protests.

Rocky Bleier is 71 and a former fullback that played for the Steelers, and he also lost part of his right foot fighting in Vietnam.

He says that it's not a First Amendment thing, but rather a workplace thing where you wouldn't be able to do anything like that in your workplace and protest about what's going on in your life, or even in the outside world:

Quote:“It’s very simply this: This is a workplace, you are at the stadium, you are working that day, this is not a platform for protest,” Bleier told Yahoo Sports. “The American people, they can’t go to their workplace and start to protest about whatever may be happening in their life. That wouldn’t be allowed and that shouldn’t be allowed in the NFL.

“It’s not a violation of the First Amendment at all. You have off days, you can do it outside of the stadium or on other platforms, but not the gameday platform. It’s a very simple question and people are making it more complex than it really is.”

He does have a very good point there, because playing in the NFL is a job, and not like you could defy your job in any other profession, by say refusing to wear a uniform because the shirts are made of cotton.

Actually, that example would be a better reason to protest because at least they're related, whereas the NFL and police not being charged for violence have no correlation.

Then, he blames the owners for not growing a pair and nipping this in the bud before it ever grew legs:

Quote:“The was a lack of leadership there on the owners’ side as well as the Players Association long before to nip whatever was coming down the road after the Colin Kaepernick situation a year ago, in the bud,” Bleier said. “It should never have gotten to this point, nobody has stepped up to say ‘No, this is not what we do on gameday.’”

He does have a point because, even if the owners said "you're not allowed to sit or kneel, but we'll invest money into this, either in making the public aware or for investigations into police brutality," they would have lost a hell of a lot less money. There's really been no leadership.

Quote:“It was a year ago that Kaepernick took a knee, so if you’re the commissioner or an owner, you have to be proactive in saying this: ‘If it never happens again, fine, but if it does, what is our position?’” Bleier said. “Somewhere along the line I have not seen the leadership maybe I expected from the commissioner and the owners in this situation.”

Talk has begun between owners and players about social injustices, but I feel like they're doing it just to please the public and no one has really taken a leadership role.

Anyways, this is one thing I like from a former Steelers player.

Thoughts?

I think if a player wants to kneel they can kneel.  If their employer allows it then its allowed.  If their employer punishes them for it then it is not allowed.

Pretty simple.

(10-26-2017, 11:20 PM)GMDino Wrote: I think if a player wants to kneel they can kneel.  If their employer allows it then its allowed.  If their employer punishes them for it then it is not allowed.

Pretty simple.

Yep. The idea that it’s automatically disallowed because it’s a place of work doesn’t really play out in real life. It’s up to the employer. For example, would every employer prohibit an employee from wearing a pro-life button at work? Some might, but some wouldn't. The question is the employer's tolerance for the statement being made. There's no universal rule that you can't make protest statements at work.

So ... These out-of-place P&R posts are fun, but are you ready to start talking some actual football yet?  How about that game on Sunday, huh?  

Brad...Proving once again he has no clue what this area of the boards are for.

(10-27-2017, 05:40 PM)SteelCitySouth Wrote: Brad...Proving once again he has no clue what this area of the boards are for.  

This area of the boards is to generally for a group of Steelers' fans to engage in a circle-jerk and to praise a team that is led by a rapist, but I had to give props where props were due.

Rocky Bleier ain't shit... Neither is Frenchy F***wad.

(10-28-2017, 01:09 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: This area of the boards is to generally for a group of Steelers' fans to engage in a circle-jerk and to praise a team that is led by a rapist, but I had to give props where props were due.

Aaaand he's back.

I guess that's the closest you're going to get to discussing the game, huh?

(10-27-2017, 04:32 AM)JS-Steelerfan Wrote: Yep.  The idea that it’s automatically disallowed because it’s a place of work doesn’t really play out in real life.  It’s up to the employer.  For example, would every employer prohibit an employee from wearing a pro-life button at work?  Some might, but some wouldn't.  The question is the employer's tolerance for the statement being made.  There's no universal rule that you can't make protest statements at work.

Of course it plays out in real life. If employees in direct contact with paying customers were wearing something objectionable to these paying customers no employer would allow it.
Fans are paying customers.

(10-29-2017, 12:01 AM)Vlad Wrote: Of course it plays out in real life. If employees in direct contact with paying customers were wearing something objectionable to these paying customers no employer would allow it.
Fans are paying customers.

Employers sympathetic enough to the cause would.

Edit: and by the way, it's not always a cut and dryissue. I know some people who are losing their interest in the NFL because the owners aren't supporting the players enough.

(10-29-2017, 12:13 AM)JS-Steelerfan Wrote: Employers sympathetic enough to the cause would.

Edit: and by the way, it's not always a cut and dryissue.  I know some people who are losing their interest in the NFL because the owners aren't supporting the players enough.

How much support do they really need? We're talking about a league where players earn a minimum of $7200/week to be on the PRACTICE SQUAD! It really doesn't bother me personally all that much, but old Rocky is correct, these protests don't belong in the workplace, and that's exactly where they are taking place. I know plenty of people who have lost interest in the NFL because of these protests, and that folks is reflected in the television ratings, which in reality why the player and owner meetings have been taking place. Do they have a legitimate social issue? Yep, but not unlike the OP, they are using the wrong forum to rally to their cause!

(10-28-2017, 01:09 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: This area of the boards is to generally for a group of Steelers' fans to engage in a circle-jerk and to praise a team that is led by a rapist, but I had to give props where props were due.

You're just jealous that you have no friends, and because of that it is impossible for you to join in a circle jerk.  You make up for it though by continuously solo jerking all about.

(11-03-2017, 10:26 AM)SteelCitySouth Wrote: You're just jealous that you have no friends, and because of that it is impossible for you to join in a circle jerk.  You make up for it though by continuously solo jerking all about.

I don't need friends because I have tons of hot babes that do the job just fine and I don't need to have anyone force them into bathrooms in bars for them to do it.

(11-03-2017, 12:33 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I don't need friends because I have tons of hot babes that do the job just fine

I think you just admitted to being friend-zoned by every chick you know.  

You know who else is in the friendzone? The Bengals. By every good quarterback in the world.

(11-03-2017, 12:37 PM)SteelCitySouth Wrote: I think you just admitted to being friend-zoned by every chick you know.  

"Doing the job for me" is being friend-zoned?

I don't think you quite understand what "doing the job" means in any of the definitions used in the context of this thread!

Steelers fans crack me up!

(11-03-2017, 12:39 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: "Doing the job for me" is being friend-zoned?

I don't think you quite understand what "doing the job" means in any of the definitions used in the context of this thread!

Steelers fans crack me up!

I'll take that as a yes.

(11-03-2017, 03:18 PM)SteelCitySouth Wrote: I'll take that as a yes.

A Steelers fan can't understand simple logic or when they're being ridiculed.

Not surprising in the least bit.

Steelers fans only hear what they want to hear and can't understand concepts or statements that aren't black-and-white, and often still struggle even when things are black-and-white.

Oh well.

(11-03-2017, 06:03 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: A Steelers fan can't understand simple logic or when they're being ridiculed.

Not surprising in the least bit.

Steelers fans only hear what they want to hear and can't understand concepts or statements that aren't black-and-white, and often still struggle even when things are black-and-white.

Oh well.

I'm with you Bradly, Steeler fans make me sick.

(11-03-2017, 06:03 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: Brad can't understand simple logic or when he's being ridiculed.

Not surprising in the least bit.

Brad only hear what he wants to hear and can't understand concepts or statements that aren't black-and-white, and often still struggle even when things are black-and-white.

Oh well.

Aaaaand he's triggered