Fans Understand Freedom of Speech, But Are Anxious To Get Back To The Game

by Intern | October 18, 2017 11:39 pm

By Samantha Flavell,
Oswego County Today intern
OSWEGO – Are you ready for some football? A lot of fans are. However, they’re tired of the distractions.

There is a shared respect for people’s right to protest. Peaceful protest is an innate American right. But some sports fans want to get back to the basics.

“Now it just seems everyone is focused on the anthem,” Oswego State Senior hockey player Mitchell Herlihey said. “You turn on Sports Center and all you see is highlights of who is kneeling, who is standing and you don’t see what happened in the game.”

The First Amendment protects the right for Americans to share their opinions and the right to stand up, or in this case kneel, for what one believes in.

This right also encompasses the President who has been making full use of the First Amendment with Twitter as his platform of choice to voice his opinions on the subject.

Citizens have been commenting all across the nation regarding his reaction to many NFL players’ choice to kneel for the National Anthem.

There have been arguments on both sides regarding whether or not this is the best way to go about protesting.

“I disagree with him (Trump) on that. As long as you’re not (peeing) on the flag I guess, honestly you can straight up disrespect the flag if you want,” Oswego State senior Louis Spagnola said. “Every law is an infringement on freedom. You want to be free. The goal is to be as free as you can be while keeping everybody safe.”

Students, such as Spagnola, stand by the idea of freedom of speech, always.

Spagnola, who describes himself as a Trump supporter, does disagree with the president’s disapproval of the protests.

Others argue that while freedom of speech is important, as well as the expression of one’s beliefs, the NFL is taking away from the sport itself.

“I feel like they’ve made their point and now they need to get back to football,” Herlihey said. “I feel like they’re going to lose a lot of fans. Whether it is the right thing or not I feel like it’s going to happen and that’s not good for the league.”

In general, no one is questioning the NFL players’ rights to protest.

However, many sports fans believe that it is time to get back to the sport.

There is a balance between the great opportunity that sports stars have to make an impact and speak out for a cause.

But fans like Herlihey also argue that while they have a responsibility to stand up for what they believe in, they also have a responsibility to their fans to play the game and bring the focus back to sports.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/oswego/fans-understand-freedom-of-speech-but-are-anxious-to-get-back-to-the-game/

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