The debate over whether the NFL should let players kneel during the national anthem flared up in state government this week as some
legislators and a governor disparaged the league.
Georgia senators unanimously passed a resolution Thursday denouncing the NFL for allowing players to kneel but not letting a veterans group advertise in the
printed game program for the Super Bowl. South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry
McMaster issued a proclamation designating the day of the big game as ”Stand for
the Flag Super Bowl Sunday.” In
Tennessee
Matt
Murray Jersey , a Republican legislator running for governor said she
would run an ad during the pregame show saying: ”It’s too bad that the league
doesn’t respect the patriotism of our national anthem.”
The on-the-field protests started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick have waned this season but the controversy hasn’t. President
Donald Trump alluded to his public spat with the NFL in his State of the Union
speech Tuesday, saying that paying tribute to the flag is a ”civic duty.”
The resolution in Georgia, introduced by Republican Sen. David Shafer, who is running for lieutenant governor, called the league hypocritical for allowing
players to kneel but not allowing an ad from the veterans group AMVETS.
”The National Football League has abandoned even the pretense of supporting free speech and dissent, silencing a major veterans’ organization while
condoning organized disrespect and contempt for the Flag of the United States
and the National Anthem,” the resolution says.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the game program has never been a place for advertising what some might consider to be a political statement.
”The NFL has long supported the military and veterans and will again salute our service members in the Super Bowl with memorable on-field moments that will
be televised as part of the game,” McCarthy said.
The words ”Please Stand” figured prominently in the ad, and McCarthy said AMVETS declined to consider alternatives, such as ”Please Stand for our
Veterans.” He said the NFL did approve a Veterans of Foreign Wars ad saying ”We
Stand for Veterans.”
Georgia’s Senate minority leader, Democrat Steve Henson, accused his Republican colleagues of slipping the resolution through in a deceptive manner.
”Many members of the body had concerns about this issue and how it was rushed to
a vote without notice,” Henson said.
In Tennessee
Olli
Maatta Jersey , Republican Rep. Diane Black will run an ad during the
Super Bowl pregame show in response to the NFL’s rejection for AMVETS’ ad.
—
Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.
—
Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
The Washington Nationals‘ bats finally came alive Friday night. They hope that offense shows up again Saturday as the Nationals attempt to win two
straight games for the first time in more than three weeks.
After a 17-7 rout on Friday night, the Nationals can pull even with the Philadelphia Phillies for second place in the National League East with a win
Saturday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Washington hit seven home runs against the Phillies on Friday, including two by rookie Juan Soto and the 20th of the season from Bryce Harper. The team
scored 17 runs on 18 hits in the win after combining for three runs on 12 hits
in its previous three games.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Nationals, who are 9-15 in June and have not won consecutive games since June 5-6. Still, they are
42-38 on the season and one game behind the Phillies in the division.
Right-hander Vince Velasquez (5-8, 4.69 ERA) will try to keep the Phillies in second place on Saturday.
With one exception, Velasquez has been reliable for the Phillies over the last two months. The hard-throwing righty has allowed fewer than three earned
runs in seven of his last 10 starts. He allowed 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings against
the Milwaukee Brewers on June 8 but has a 2.73 ERA in his other nine starts
dating back to May 5.
Velasquez, who averages 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings, had seven strikeouts in six innings against the Yankees on Monday. He gave up two runs on
three hits and four walks in the outing and took the loss as the Phillies’
offense struggled in the 4-2 defeat.
“I had a couple walks here and there, and I had to pitch around some guys
Patric
Hornqvist Jersey ,” Velasquez told reporters after the game. “It’s a tough
lineup to face.”
Saturday’s start will be Velasquez’s sixth in his career against Washington. He is 2-2 with a 5.33 ERA and 1.333 WHIP in his first five starts. This season,
Velasquez held the Nationals to one run on one hit and four walks over five
innings in a May 5 start in which he got the win.
Jeremy Hellickson is expected to be activated off the disabled list and make the Saturday start for the Nationals. Hellickson (2-0, 2.28) strained his right
hamstring in a June 3 start and has not pitched since.
He made a rehab start for Class A Potomac last Sunday and gave up 11 runs in 4 2/3 innings. But he said he felt healthy after the outing.
“Physically, I felt fine,” Hellickson told the Washington Post last week. “I mean, obviously not how I wanted it to go, but I felt fine. Felt my stuff was
pretty good. Just command was a little shaky, but (my) hammy was 100
percent.”
Hellickson was solid before the injury. He posted a 1.30 ERA and .548 opponent OPS in five starts during May, and the Nationals won each of those
outings.
Hellickson pitched for the Phillies in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. In his only career start against Philadelphia, Hellickson did not allow an earned run in
eight innings while with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2015 season.
