The Department of Defense pays the NFL millions to promote the military and whip up nationalism at their games as a recruitment tool.

The participation of players in the national anthem before games used to NOT be a thing at all.
The Department of Defense pays the NFL big fucking money to promote the armed forces and whip up nationalism at their games as a recruitment tool.
“Until 2009, no NFL player stood for the national anthem because players actually stayed in the locker room as the anthem played,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith explained in 2016. “The players were moved to the field during the national anthem because it was seen as a marketing strategy to make the athletes look more patriotic. The United States Department of Defense paid the National Football League $5.4 million between 2011 and 2014, and the National Guard $6.7 million between 2013 and 2015 to stage onfield patriotic ceremonies as part of military-recruitment budget line items.”
www.truthdig.com/articles/pentagon-paid-nfl-displays-patriotism/
I don’t pay much attention to mainstream, so I don’t know, but I seriously doubt that any of the “news” networks bothered to mention any of this information while they were covering the whole upset about players taking a knee during the Anthem.
Pundits cried about the disrespect it showed towards our country, but the real upset behind closed doors is that the DoD wasn’t getting the advertisement time nor the PR boost they have been paying for.
Tax dollars hard at work manipultating the populace.
Edit: No, this is not “just marketing.”
“Marketing” for the Department of Defense that can’t be recognized as such by the average NFL consumer isn’t marketing.
It is military industrial complex propaganda inserted as subtly as possibly into a wildly popular platform.
Those arguing that it’s “just marketing” are suggesting we all just go back to sleep and not pay any attention to the constant manipulation of the populace in ever invasive forms.
Personally, I’m fed up with all this mind control bullshit.
 
h/t RedditHelpsEnslaveUs