NFL fans have an opportunity to reverse the leftist drift of the patriotic professional sports culture we once loved. As we turn off this season’s NFL Halftime Show and turn on Turning Point’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, it will once again highlight the positive power of We the People.
Patriotism is part of America’s DNA, and when our values are challenged — in body, spirit, or culture — we instinctively unify. That spirit of unity has always been embodied in a single word: Remember. Remember the Boston Massacre, the Alamo, Pearl Harbor, Sept. 11 — and in my home state of Utah, the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk.
After years of its woke attack on our culture, flag, and national anthem, the NFL has arrogantly offered us another historic “remember” moment: the anti-American Bad Bunny Halftime Show.
For years, Commissioner Goodell and the NFL’s leadership have chosen leftist activism over the values held by the majority of their fans — faith, family and freedom. Rather than uniting fans through patriotism, they have aligned the league with America’s antithesis, the ideology of Marxism. As the NFL sanctioned BLM-inspired player protests, end-zone social justice messaging and increasingly offensive halftime shows, they have alienated the very people who supported their dominance.
The founders of the modern NFL, many of whom served in World War II, envisioned a league that reflected America’s spirit of patriotism and national pride. Under the leadership of pioneers like Commissioner Pete Rozelle and race-blind owner Al Davis, the game became a unifying force that broke down the racial barriers of the 1960s and celebrated meritocracy — the “Just Win Baby” American way.
As a player in that era, I saw firsthand how the Raiders’ culture of unity produced both championships and historic firsts: the first Hispanic Super Bowl-winning coach, first black head coach, first Hispanic Super Bowl MVP quarterback, first black quarterback drafted in the first round and first female chief executive.
But Goodell’s NFL hasn’t unified America, it’s divided us. The NFL’s erratic and inconsistent response to player protests beginning in 2016 revealed that its policies were guided not by principle, but by profit — shifting fecklessly with the winds of the activism of the day. The NFL’s support of activist and anti-American demonstrations might have played well in Communist China, a market targeted for NFL expansion, but it was an insult to America.
Tragically, it sent a message to young athletes that it’s acceptable to kneel in defiance of our American flag instead of standing proudly to honor it. That same generation is being taught another divisive message: that black Americans should separate themselves from their fellow Americans and align instead with a different “black” national anthem.
The most egregious NFL offense in the past decade wasn’t player demonstrations, social engineering, or DEI, but something far worse.
In 2020, it was revealed that the league used a discriminatory practice known as “race norming” to evaluate former players for brain injuries. According to court documents, former black players evaluated for neurocognitive impairment were assumed to be inherently less intelligent than their white counterparts. If a black player and a white player received the same scores on a battery of thinking and memory tests, the conclusion was that, due to the assumed lower cognitive ability of black players, they had suffered less impairment and were therefore less likely to qualify for a payout.
Two former black players uncovered this scheme after they were mistakenly given the white player test and qualified for compensation, only to fail once retested under the “black” standard. With over 53% of NFL players being black, this system guaranteed fewer payouts and more profit in the league’s coffers. Although a lawsuit exposed the practice, a federal judge dismissed the case and ordered a league mediator to address concerns about how race correction was being used.
My hope is that President Donald Trump’s Justice Department will revisit this injustice with fresh eyes and deliver real accountability for the thousands of black families impacted by the NFL’s use of race norming.
Over the last 10 years, my disenchantment with the NFL has been deeply personal. Since 2016, I’ve boycotted all NFL games, Super Bowls and halftime shows.
Though my stance is rooted in principle, I recognize that personal protest alone doesn’t move the needle of change. That’s why I’m thankful to Turning Point for giving Americans like me an opportunity to take real action.
Woke ideologues retreat only when their power and profit are at risk. Our cultural battle with the NFL and every other woke sports organization is one we must all join. It is, after all, a battle for the hearts, souls, and minds of America’s children.
I’m committed to supporting advertisers who stand behind Turning Point’s Halftime Show, and I’ll proudly boycott those who sponsor the anti-American Bad Bunny routine. When our children see us act with courage and principle, even in the smallest ways, they learn to do the same.
So this year, as we turn on the Turning Point Super Bowl Halftime Show, let’s gather our families together and make this a national event. Let’s show our children what patriotic, principled, uplifting and family-friendly entertainment looks like.
Burgess Owens is a former NFL Super Bowl champion, bestselling author, and U.S. congressman dedicated to education reform, opportunity and empowering the next generation.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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