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Partway into the 2017 NFL season, the practice begun by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick during the previous year's exhibition season — of kneeling on the sidelines (rather than standing) during the playing of the U.S. national anthem before games in order to symbolize opposition to racial injustice in America — had become widespread around the league. Many players — and some whole teams — had similarly started taking a knee on the sidelines, or staying in the locker room, while pre-game renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner were played in football stadiums. The protest gained momentum after United States President Donald Trump issued comments prior to the NFL's Week 3 schedule suggesting that football players who declined to stand during the national anthem should be fined, that fans should boycott games, and that the league should alter their policy to force players to stand during pre-game ceremonies: During that weekend's games, an item began circulating via social media proclaiming that the NFL League Rulebook specifically required that all players must be on the sideline during the playing of the national anthem, and that failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s): However, no such wording appears in the 2017 version of the Official Playing Rules of the National Football League (which the NFL also sometimes refers to as an operations manual): Pages 62 and 63 contain only regulations about the enforcement of fouls committed on the field during gameplay, and nowhere else does that document specify anything about the either the playing of the national anthem prior to games or the required behavior of players and team personnel during that ceremony. In fact, the rulebook makes no mention of the national anthem at all. Rule 4, which covers Game Timing, states only that both teams must be on the field before the scheduled start time of the first and second halves, and must initially appear on the field at least 10 minutes early in order to allow sufficient time for warming up: Rule 5, which covers Players, Substitutes, Equipment, and General Rules, does include (in Article 8) a section prohibiting players from conveying personal messages throughout the game day while they are visible to fans in attendance and television audiences, and from convey[ing] messages, through helmet decals, arm bands, jersey patches, or other items affixed to game uniforms or equipment, which relate to political activities or causes ...: However, some sources have confusingly stated that the NFL has a separate game operations manual distributed to all the teams, and it is that document, not the rulebook, which supposedly includes the wording in question regarding player conduct during the national anthem: We have not yet been able to independently confirm the existence and wording of this second document (the NFL has not responded to our query), but the proffered wording — which league spokesman Brian McCarthy described as a policy rather than a rule — states that players must be on the sideline for the national anthem, not that they must stand on the sideline (the latter is listed only as something players should do). The wording also establishes that players may (not shall) be penalized for not observing the regulation, and indeed the NFL announced that they would not take any disciplinary measures over players' remaining in the locker room before Week 3 games: When Colin Kaepernick first made waves by kneeling during pre-game ceremonies back in August 2016, the NFL issued a statement proclaiming that Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the National Anthem. NBC News similarly observed that The NFL has no such rule, and the Collective Bargaining Agreement is silent on the subject. Nonetheless, could Article 8, Rule 5 of the rulebook itself be interpreted as requiring NFL players to stand on the sidelines during the national anthem? The latter part of it would not seem to apply, as players who kneel or remain in the locker room during the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner are not wearing, or affixing to their uniforms, any symbols related to their protest. The first part seemingly provides league officials broad latitude to determine what constitutes a personal message, but as James Dator noted in addressing this issue on SBNATION, it's unlikely that section could or would be applied to the current protests:
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