Berkley Center

I am an assistant football coach at Lane College, which is a historically black college in my metro area. This is far and away the most enjoyable thing that I regularly get to do in Jackson, Tennessee, and it’s not even close. I’m exceedingly thankful for the chance to do it. That said, I haven’t yet taken a side and begun yelling and screaming about the NFL’s national anthem policy as is internet-customary.

For me, it’s hard to think about this issue without thinking about national anthems at Lane games. Here’s how they go: The Star Spangled Banner plays, and about a third of our guys kneel, a third of our guys remain standing, and a third of our guys go on doing whatever it is that football players do before games, which includes pacing nervously, hugging their families, getting some water, or vomiting because of pre-game nerves.

Following that anthem is Lift Every Voice and Sing, the black national anthem, which everybody stands for including me (I’m white). I didn’t know there was a black national anthem until I coached my first game at Lane and someone explained it to me. This was an awesome moment of lifelong learning, and part of the reason why coaching football is so fun.

So here’s what happens: When I’m standing for the Star Spangled Banner, zero guys look at me and think, “Wow, Coach Ted must hate social justice.” The reason for this is that we know each other, and they either know that I’m not a guy who hates social justice or they’re just giving me the benefit of the doubt.

In the same way, there have been zero instances in which I’ve thought, “That player is kneeling and in doing so he is disrespecting everything I hold dear about America.” The reason for this is that I know the kids, and I know them to be nice guys who are just trying to figure things out, which is what college and young adulthood is for. I am zero percent threatened by what they’re doing.

The point here is this: when you know people you give them the benefit of the doubt, and being a part of a football team is nothing if not an exercise in trusting and knowing people. That’s part of the enduring appeal of the game. However, I understand and respect that this is difficult for NFL fans. As my friend, a historian, put it: “Celebrity depersonalizes persons in weird ways.”

I personally love hearing from my players as to what they’re thinking about the anthem, the flag, the police, the military, or whatever. It’s an interesting window into their lives. And I enjoy hearing the same things from NFL players – black and white alike. As a college professor I’m encouraged that these guys have “lives of the mind” as well as “lives of the body.”

When I stand for the Star Spangled Banner I’m doing that primarily out of respect for my dad and my grandparents, and (at my most thoughtful – admittedly not every time) I am thankful for the freedoms I have as an American.

But I guess the essence of freedom is envisioning a day – maybe this coming season – when one of my guys asks me to kneel with him. What will I do? How will I respond? I’d love the freedom to kneel with them and I know that as an American I have that. I love that I have that. But do I have it culturally? Will I have it in the court of public opinion in my largely conservative metro area? Will I be able to kneel in what, for me, amounts to an act of love for my players, but also love for my country? How would I explain it to my dad?

The fact that I’ve been working on the ending to a 700-word column for three days speaks to the complexity of this issue for me. It makes me nervous. Because getting it “right” is both personal and public – as it is for all of these players, whether they play for the Lane Dragons or the Dallas Cowboys.