STATEMENT FROM PATRIOTS CHAIRMAN AND CEO ROBERT KRAFT
"I am deeply disappointed by the tone of the comments made by the President on Friday. I am proud to be associated with so many players who make such tremendous contributions in positively impacting our communities. Their efforts, both on and off the field, help bring people together and make our community stronger. There is no greater unifier in this country than sports, and unfortunately, nothing more divisive than politics. I think our political leaders could learn a lot from the lessons of teamwork and the importance of working together toward a common goal. Our players are intelligent, thoughtful and care deeply about our community and I support their right to peacefully affect social change and raise awareness in a manner that they feel is most impactful."
HeyApples on September 24th, 2017 at 12:36 UTC »
I wish more people would take Kraft's view towards those of differing ideology. Someone can be your friend, associate, or business partner in one arena, but you can still have legitimate disagreements about them in another arena, and neither of those needs to be exclusive.
It seems that in the current social climate, if you don't 100% agree with someone they have to be your mortal fucking enemy to the death. The real world is much more nuanced and Kraft navigates that well.
Deignish on September 24th, 2017 at 12:34 UTC »
I'm not american so my opinion counts for fuck all here. But you associate the american flag with freedom, bravery etc right? surely a man using his freedom to express an opinion in the face of the abuse he's now receiving as a result is a pretty american thing?
Either way, agree or not, respect someones right to peacefully protest
bendandrea25 on September 24th, 2017 at 12:24 UTC »
I think it's an important dialogue to have and I'm glad that Kraft stood on the side of the players and is giving them free will. Personally, I will always stand for the Anthem. However I completely understand why players are taking a knee and take no issue with it. Hopefully we can keep this civil in here