A.G. Gancarski
Last fall, the Jacksonville Jaguars (a footnote in the NFL for years before) became globally famous for reasons that had little to do with the game on the field.
While in London for a game, roughly 20 Jags knelt during the anthem, and owner Shad Khan locked arms with players in a show of unity.
Khan, who donated $1 million to President Donald Trump‘s Inauguration Committee, was cognizant of the optics.
“Following the divisive and contentious remarks made by President Trump,” Khan said he “was honored to be arm-in-arm with them, their teammates and our coaches during our anthem.”
Soon enough, the team began to walk back those sentiments. By October, Jaguars’ President Mark Lamping wrote a mea culpa letter to a city official, saying the organization “was remiss in not fully comprehending the effect of the national anthem demonstration on foreign soil has had on the men and women who have or continue to serve our country.”
The issue was forgotten as the team became relevant again last year. And in the interim, the Jaguars moved away from the issue further.
By the time the NFL issued its latest policy banning intra-anthem protests earlier this year, Shad Khan was reduced to blandishments: “We all want the same thing, respect for our nation and our flag.”
That policy was reversed this week, with the NFL and its union putting the policy on hold after the Miami Dolphins’ internal policy, which would have potentially suspended scofflaws, stoked controversy.
However, the issue hasn’t been an issue in the Jaguars’ locker room, per Coach Doug Marrone Thursday.
There has been “zero” talk of the policy.
“I know that the NFLPA and the league is working on it. When they pass it down, we will just do what they tell us to do,” Marrone said.
Time will tell if it all goes that smooth, but at least early on, the Jaguars are avoiding a PR pitfall from 2017.
