It is fair to say that not every NFL owner is precisely on the same page when it comes to rules behind protesting during the national anthem.
Take Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II, who pointedly said he hopes that the league can reach an agreement that applies to “all clubs and all players.”
“For the first time in the last two years of this thing, we have the Players Association willing to sit down and talk with us,” Rooney said, via Mark Maske of the Washington Post. “I don’t know if that’s our fault or their fault. But it’s good that we’re talking. The goal here should be to come out with a uniform policy that applies to all clubs and all players. I hope everyone lets the process play out and we come up with something.”
The reference to “all clubs” could be taken as a shot at the Dallas Cowboys, whose owner Jerry Jones said this week that all players would be required to be on the field standing for the anthem. That goes against the previously-agreed ownership policy that is currently in limbo that stated that players would be permitted to remain in the locker room during the national anthem if they wished to.
Rooney may also be referencing what happened with the Miami Dolphins, who floated a very restrictive policy in light of the current lack of guidelines. There’s a reason the owners want a standard set of rules, but the players need to have their say before they can get anywhere.
