San Francisco 49ers have left no doubt their protests will continue throughout season
A mockery was made of the national anthem all right.
But it wasn’t by the San Francisco 49ers who knelt during it.
Vice President Mike Pence turned the anthem into a prop Sunday, co-opting it for a stunt that served no other purpose than to sow division and further enrage the administration’s conservative base. That it likely deflected attention from yet more neo-Nazi protests in Charlottesville was all the better.
Please, though, tell me again how it’s the players who are so disrespectful.
Pence was so incensed by the sight of several 49ers kneeling during the anthem that he left immediately afterward. Not so incensed that he wasn’t right there with a carefully crafted statement to let the world know of his outrage, however.
Related: Pence tweets same picture from Colts game that he tweeted in 2014
“President Trump and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our flag or our national anthem,” Pence’s statement said.
And in case anyone missed how righteously indignant he was, he quickly updated the background photo on his Twitter profile to one of him standing for Sunday’s anthem, hand over his heart, next to someone in a military uniform.
Spare me.
This isn’t about patriotism or love of country or any other garbage excuse. This was a carefully orchestrated PR move — one staged at no small expense to taxpayers, mind you, given his Las Vegas-Indianapolis-Los Angeles itinerary.
Pence knew exactly what he was walking into in Indianapolis. 49ers safety Eric Reid, the first player to join Colin Kaepernick in kneeling during the anthem last year, has made it clear his protest will continue this season.
The 49ers have also been the most staunch defenders of both their players’ activism and reasons for it. They donated $1 million last year to Bay Area organizations that promote social justice, and have left no doubt in the wake of President Donald Trump’s rant two weeks ago that they consider the protests appropriate.
“For more than a year, members of our team have protested the oppression and social injustices still present in our society. While some may not have taken a knee or raised a fist, we have all shared the desire to influence positive change,” the 49ers said in a statement issued last weekend on behalf of the players, coaches, ownership and staff.
“As the majority of us have done throughout our careers, we use our platform as members of a NFL team, and our right to freedom of expression, to speak up for those whose voice is not heard.”
If there was any team Pence was guaranteed of seeing protest, it would be the 49ers. Yet he went to the game, anyway.
Perhaps that’s why the media pool was left to wait in vans outside the stadium. NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard said on Twitter that the pool was told Pence “may depart the game early. Did not indicate how early.”
Yeah. You never know how long it’s going to take to pull off a stunt.
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Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.
