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CRÊME PHILADELPHIA – At the invitation of an announcer at the NFL opening game on Thursday, nearly 70,000 Eagles fans showed up for the national anthem, played by Boyz II Men alongside the Guard of Honor. of the Philadelphia Police.
Fans pulled off their commemorative hats and visors with the "Philly Special," a trick play scheme that was key to winning the Super Bowl last season. They put their right hand on their hearts and sometimes have to move their beers to their left. Some sang while others cheered the main lines of the song.
Several fans said they did not even think about sweeping the sidelines to see if any players had knelt to protest police brutality and racial inequality. For those who watched: All players from both teams were on the field. Malcolm Jenkins, a security guard who sometimes raised his fist in protest, stood silently beside his teammates. A defensive team that is new to the team has wandered for most of the song and sat on the bench towards its end.
At the mention of "bombs bursting into the air," a red and silver fireworks burst and applause broke out at the end of the anthem, barely two minutes away. At that point, the part of the game that President Trump had used to stir up opposition to the players was over – for the relief of almost everyone.
A year after the battle between Trump and the NFL's African-American players, most of the spectators seemed to want to finish. Dozens of Eagle fans said in an interview that they were disappointed that the conflicting nature of politics has infiltrated every aspect of life, even football. Many said they were tired of Trump's tweets, combative news boards, fights on Facebook, politicians throwing red meats before the mid-term elections, symbolic gestures losing their meaning.
"The politicians have completely corrupted the abuser," said Richard Campbell, 44, an African-American father of two teenage girls who traveled to the match from North Carolina. "It was a simple gesture intended to draw attention to something that needed to be addressed – but people took it and turned it into a political agenda. They have turned it into this set: you are either with the country or against it. "
The Philadelphia Eagles joined the young football players during the national anthem on Thursday before the NFL season opened against the Falcons in Philadelphia. (Mike Segar / Reuters)
"I'm fed up with it, I'm fed up with everything," said Matt Cory, 38, an independent politician who lives in the area.He does not like kneeling players, but thinks that everything is out of proportion.'You come to a sporting event to relax and have fun … I understood it.I understand that it is important, but I am just tired.I am exhausted. "
As the crowd rallied to the Eagles, a Fox News reporter more than 3,000 kilometers from Montana asked President Trump for a new Nike ad reported by former 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
"Who will win this cultural event defending the national anthem?" Asked the reporter as part of a campaign rally that would soon begin.
Before the president could answer, a guy in the crowd yelled, "We are!" Others echoed him, then the president did the same thing: "We are.
In the Billings clash, Trump's squad prevailed: several supporters said in interviews that they had stopped watching NFL games because of protests from the players.
A woman from a small mountain town said her family had canceled her NFL subscription. A long-time Seattle Seahawks fan wearing a CNN is Fake News t-shirt said the protests had revived his interest in college football and he would now prefer to watch the University Huskies. of Washington and the Grizzlies of the University of Montana. An 80-year-old veteran said he and his friends would not be watching another NFL game before the end of the protests.
"I loved the NFL, but when the policy was put into the NFL, I stopped watching," said Anthony Stamness, who lives in Billings and works in the oil industry. "It was time to sit down and enjoy the game, but they started to apply the politically correct and all those other malarkey. It was not what he was anymore. It's a shame. "
In Philadelphia, however, Trump's argument seemed to run out of steam.
Before the kickoff, thousands of Eagles fans were in the parking lots surrounding Lincoln Financial Field. The music sounds as fans throw footballs and play cornhole. At the request of a jubilant crowd, a young man with blond hair spent his head in a paddling pool filled with ice water and beer cans. There were scattered songs from: "E-A-G-L-E-S! Eagles! Empty beer cans clenched underfoot and two helicopters flew over the ground.
Fans have talked about the upcoming game, an imminent thunderstorm and their skepticism about the possibility for the Eagles to play a new season as the last, which ended in the first Super Bowl victory. They discussed their work, their diet, their mutual knowledge and the exorbitant cost of child care and university these days.
Many did not want to talk about politics. Most, certainly, did not want to do it by name.
A young man wearing a T-shirt that described him as someone who still defends the national anthem refused to explain why. A blonde woman spoke for herself and her girlfriends, who all drank Bud Light on cans of Green Eagles, stating, "We do not have any opinion on politics.
"Are you talking politics at a football game?" Said a long-time Republican who voted for Trump. "There are deer ticks, flea ticks, lunatics and politics."
A group of assailants included 20- and 30-year-olds who attended the same church and saw politics differently: a unionized electrician who wears a Trump sticker on his helmet, a veteran of the military who thinks that "Veterinarians" became too sensitive and too quickly offended, a general contractor who stopped playing at the NFL at home because he did not want to explain the kneeling controversy to his two young children.
"I wish the NFL is the NFL," said James Nelson, 31, the general contractor, who voted for Trump. "Freedom of expression is a double-edged sword. I do not like people to kneel and protest, but when you start saying that they have to stand up and that they have to support it, you erode the freedom of # 39; s expression. . . You talk about fascism when you start telling people to greet the flag, they have to represent the anthem. "
The veteran – who is 28 years old and works as a police officer in the suburb of Philly and requested anonymity because he feared problems at work if he gave his full name – said he was frustrated Nike decided to "re-light" the issue two days before the opening of the season, at a time when "people wanted it to be over."
Her older brother – who voted reluctantly for Hillary Clinton in 2016 – immediately understood why Kaepernick had begun to protest. He spoke slowly, carefully choosing his words.
"He said that the main reason he did it was because of police brutality towards African Americans, especially young African-American men," said the 31-year-old older brother under the pretext of the police. ;anonymity. problems at work. "I'm delighted that the guy is taking a stand for something he believes in and believes it's important – and in various parts of the country, statistically, it's still a problem."
His younger brother, the police officer, cut him off: "There is no factual basis behind what Colin Kaepernick does. . . . This is not a systemic problem as they say it is. It's an invented thing.
They agreed, however, that both political parties had used the NFL protests for their own purposes.
"It's like: Oh, you're leaning that way, then you're right, you're a Nazi, oh, you're a communist if you're left, no, you can be in the middle," Nelson said. Trump's investigator.
The storm hit and delayed the game 40 minutes. Everyone was taken to the halls where many continued to drink, including a 27-year-old woman wearing a T-shirt: "I'm defending our national anthem." Her husband was a Marine killed abroad. she is particularly angry when people do not show up for the anthem.
"Would you kneel in the national anthem?" She asked a woman who stood nearby and shook her head.
"Would you kneel in front of the national anthem?" She asked a young man who passed by him and said "no"
"Do you want to kneel during the national anthem?" She asked a young black couple who asked her to rephrase her question. "Kneel down." To the national anthem.
"Yeah," they both said.
"Well," she said with a raised eyebrow. "They said yes. "
Four minutes after sending the Eagles to Lincoln Financial Field, President Trump spoke at Billings and referred to the flag: "The people of Montana love our country, so love our country. They respect our values and you always respect our great American flag. You see what happens. "
He did not directly address the NFL controversy, as he sometimes does, or mention the Eagles, which he refused to visit at the White House this spring after several players announced they would not participate at a Super Bowl ceremony.
He shook through his usual attacks and boasts. And at the end of the speech, he summoned his vision of patriotism.
"We will not bend. We will not break. We will never give up, "he said. "We will always fight for victory. . . . Because we are America. And our hearts bleed red, white and blue.
Ten minutes later, the football match stopped at halftime, the Eagles to three. As the halls were filled with fans, no one seemed to be talking politics.
Howard reported from Billings, Mt. Scott Clement, Emily Guskin and Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.
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