The national anthem is going to be a hot topic at the NFL owners meetings.
Just don’t expect any far-ranging decisions to be made.
Judging by the comments Sunday from the Texans’ Robert McNair and the Jets‘ Christopher
Johnson
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McNair, who last year made an analogy of inmates running the prison about players’ demonstrations during the anthem, remains adamant that everyone should
stand for the ”The Star-Spangled Banner.”
”Our playing field is not the place for political statements, not the place for religious statements,” McNair said. ”It’s the place for football.”
Johnson, acting owner of the Jets with his brother, Woody, serving as ambassador to the United Kingdom, took a far different tack.
”I have immense respect for the players and their efforts,” Christopher Johnson said. ”I think if other teams approached it like that, it would not be
such a problem in the NFL.
”I can’t speak to how other people run their teams, but I just think that trying to forcibly get the players to shut up is a fantastically bad idea.”
While the social protests players made last season will be a topic here, reaching an agreement on language in the league’s policy regarding behavior
during the anthem is highly unlikely. Owners will meet again in May in Atlanta,
and with so much other business to attend in the next three days, the anthem
issue figures to extend until then.
”I don’t know if it’ll be a vote or just a new policy coming out,” Giants owner John Mara said. ”I think we can’t go much beyond the May meeting before
coming up with some sort of resolution to that.”
McNair and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones are among the leaders of the move to ban any demonstrations during the anthem. McNair drew strong criticism from a
variety of players after making his ”inmates” comment last fall.
”We’re going to deal with it in such a way, I think
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respect our country, respect our flag,” McNair said Sunday. ”And our playing
fields, that’s not the place for political statements.
”Fans are upset about it. The fans are our customers. You can replace the owners and the league would survive. You can replace the players, although the
game won’t be as good. You can’t replace the fans. If you don’t have the fans,
you’re dead.”
Johnson was more willing to search for answers to the anthem issue while also not wanting the players’ messages to be lost. He doesn’t favor seeing the policy
changed to having the players remain in the locker room until after the anthem
is played, which has been discussed.
”I think that’s a particularly bad idea,” Johnson said.
What about changing the language to the players must stand?
”I don’t agree with that either, but I’m only one of 32 owners,” he added. ”I think that the Jets had a pretty great thing happen last year around the anthem.
I think there was an understanding between me and the players that we could use
our position – rightly or wrongly, people pay attention to teams and athletes –
but we could use our position to get some great stuff done off the field. I
think we have done some great things off the field.”
Another off-field topic is the sale of the Carolina Panthers. Jerry Richardson announced in December that he was selling following allegations of
workplace misconduct.
”He’s going to sell the team,” McNair said of the 81-year-old Richardson. ”He’s had all kinds of health problems. … I don’t know all the details, but I
know he has some good prospective buyers that appear to be qualified.”
As for investigations into Richardson’s behavior, McNair defended his fellow owner, also citing instances when the Texans faced similar accusations.
”I understand what he’s saying,” McNair said. ”Sometimes people choose to try to make something go away rather than fighting. I think his regret is he didn’t
fight some of these things.
”We got confronted with it, too
http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline.com/deshazor-everett-jersey ,
where people will allege something, they get a lawyer, and what they do is come
out and threaten you. And your legal counsel and your insurance people say,
`Well, it’s going to cost you X number millions of dollars’ to defend this. And
if we can settle it for this.’
”Well, wait a minute. We’re not guilty. Why would we do that?’ That’s the question. Sometimes just to get rid of it, if you can get rid of it, (you) – do
it.”
—
In this corner, cornerback Tramon Williams.
There are times when the Green Bay Packers veteran feels like he should be wearing a pair of boxing gloves instead of a helmet and shoulder pads.
Football has worked out just fine, though, for Williams. But as he has aged, Williams has carved out more time to get into the ring.
Boxing workouts are increasingly part of the 35-year-old Williams' offseason routine, a regimen that he says helps him keep in shape and ready to go once
training camp starts.
"I feel like I missed my calling, you know what I'm saying," Williams said with a laugh. "I've been doing this since, I don't know ??boxing has been a
habit since I was young, like before a teenager."
He might be the elder statesman in the cornerback room
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college. His 12th NFL season begins on Sunday night, when the Packers host the
Chicago Bears.
"That's a tribute to him, to how he's taken care of his body," said first-year defensive coordinator and former Cleveland Browns head coach Mike
Pettine."He's the ultimate professional. He's very aware of what he puts into
his body and his workout regimen."
The Packers signed Williams as a free agent in the offseason for his second stint with the team. Part of what made Williams a good fit to return was his
familiarity with Pettine's scheme while playing for the Browns.
In Green Bay, Williams provides leadership to a position group that will prominently feature the team's two draft picks, rookies Jaire Alexander and Josh
Jackson, as well as 2017 second-round pick Kevin King. Williams tells the
younger players to study film and prepare for the opponent.
"He leads by example," said Alexander, a first-round pick out of Louisville.
Williams can still come up with a big play too. His 32 career interceptions are tied for fifth among active NFL players.
He returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in Green Bay's second preseason game, a 51-34 win over the Pittsburgh
Steelers.
"You know what's funny, that's my first pick-six in Lambeau. I wasn't even thinking that," Williams said .
Undrafted out of Louisiana Tech in 2006, Williams was released by Houston after training camp during his rookie year before joining the Packers' practice
squad for the final five weeks of the season.
He impressed in camp enough the following year to land on Green Bay's 53-man roster. He finished that season as the team's third cornerback and top kick
returner.
Williams was a key player on the Packers team that won the Super Bowl in the 2010 season . His first stint in Titletown lasted nine seasons and 127 games,
including 99 starts and 28 interceptions. He left Green Bay following the 2014
season, going to Cleveland for two years before playing last season in
Arizona.
"I've learned a lot over the past few years from being gone and being in different situations," Williams said. "I've grown from them, and I tried to
bring it back here to the young guys and to this team and try to play my
part."
Williams has tweaked his offseason routine to keep things fresh. First off
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break - after the season ends.
Boxing has helped fill that void.
"Pays off great ... My conditioning is up, first of all. Conditioning for boxing as you know is a totally different kind of conditioning. If you're not
used to it, man it will get to you," Williams said.
The pace in the NFL involves intense busts of physical activity for about a minute, followed by a break of another minute or so. Keep repeating for an
entire drive.
It helps with footwork, too, which is another important skill for cornerbacks to learn as they break off the line of scrimmage and position themselves with
receivers.
"I'm doing a little bit of everything," Williams said with a laugh when asked if getting into the ring was part of the routine.
Williams said he didn't have much access to places to train in the ring while growing up in Louisiana. The opportunities opened when he later moved to the
Houston area. His current trainer is a former mixed martial arts fighter.
The workouts pay off when he gets back on the field.
"So whenever I get back to football stuff ... I'm in shape, all I've got to do is get right back into it, just doing what I do," he said. "You know, you've
got to do some things that you like to have fun in, and I love boxing. I have
fun."
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