I have had it up to here with National Football League players refusing to stand for the Star-Spangled Banner prior to games.

I have had it with Donald Trump bitching about NFL players who don’t stand for the Star-Spangled Banner

I have had it with the media highlighting the protests.

Just go away already.

I watch football to get away from the stress of the everyday world. The United States of America has enough problems worrying about Kim-Jong Un, who has no compulsion about killing millions of people with a nuclear weapon, whether they be in another country or his own. His father, Kim-Jong Il, and grandfather, Kim-Il Sung, didn’t have any problems killing milions of Koreans becuase they didn’t subscribe to their worldview.

I want to watch FOOTBALL when I turn on an NFL game. FOOTBALL. I don’t want to hear about Malcolm Jenkins giving the Black Powe Salute, I don’t want to hear so and so too a knee, I don’t want to hear about the Seahawks and Titans choosng to remain in the locker room during the playing of the national anthem, and I don’t want to hear about Collin Kaepernick’s protests.

Also, I’ve had it with people making excuses for why Kaepernick doesn’t have a job with an NFL team right now. He is not good enough to play quarterback in the NFL. Period. His skill set probably translates better to the Canadian Football League, where the field is longer and wider, there are 12 players on the field, and receivers can gain a running start by going in forward motion prior to the snap. A lot of quarterbacks similar to Kaepernick who couldn’t make it in the NFL have thrived in the CFL. Condredge Holloway, the first black quarterback in the Southeastern Conference for Tennessee in the early 1970s, is a lot like Kaepernick—athletic, not the strongest arm, but dangerous in the open field.

Trump made the comment that NFL players who do not stand for the national anthem should be fired—if not fired, then suspended without pay—was a little harsh. I believe the flag of the United States of America deserves the utmost respect and people should stand at attention when the national anthem is played, but the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution allows for freedom of speech, and that includes protesting the flag. We do not want to become North Korea.

On the other hand, NFL players are paid quite handsomely to play a game. I believe that once a player puts on a uniform whether it be in practice or a game, it is work, and he should be held to the rules and regulations of the worplace, the NFL. If players wish to PEACEFULLY on their own time, more power to them. But once they are in uniform, they are there to do a job.

I barely watched the NFL last Sunday. I did not watch any of the early games, which was partly to protest the fact the Fox affiliate in Wichita insisted on showing the Giants-Eagles game instead of Falcons-Lions. The reasoning of the station was that becuase the Giants and Eagles are in the NFC East, they felt it was important to show the game, as it would afect Cowboys fans, who are many in southern Kansas. PLEASE.

I watched a few minutes of Chiefs-Chargers, but once Kansas City led 14-0, I tuned out. Did not watch one snap of Raiders-Redskins Sunday night nor Cowboys-Cardinals Monday night. I watched a few plays of the Bears-Packers game on Amazon Prime last night, but that’s it.

I’m not missing the NFL that much. Not really.