The Miami Dolphins consider protesting during the national anthem “conduct detrimental to the team,” per a document leaked to the Associated Press.
The Miami Dolphins consider protesting during the national anthem “conduct detrimental to the team,” per a document leaked to the Associated Press, and reserve the right to punish players with anything from a fine to a suspension.
The NFL announced in May that it would fine teams if their players on the field didn’t stand during the national anthem. The league said it was up to the teams to punish individual players, if they decided to at all.
The Bears don’t publish their fine schedules, a team spokesman said Thursday. Coach Matt Nagy addressed the media before the Dolphins document leak Thursday, but will speak again Friday.
Last month, Bears chairman George McCaskey said he had spoken with president/CEO Ted Phillips and team union rep Sam Acho about how the Bears would handle discipline, but wanted to learn more before making a decision.
Bears players link arms during the national anthem before their game against the Steelers on Sunday. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)
“I want to give that some thought and talk to them some more about it… ” he said. “I’d rather proceed with continuing that dialogue and what we hope is a climate of trust.”
In May, Jets chairman Christopher Johnson said his team would not punish any player who protests. Nagy said then that he hadn’t talked to his players about whether they would protest, but that he wanted to discuss the issue with his team.
“It’s too important not to,” Nagy said. “And I feel very confident that we’ll all do it together.”
The Bears have not had a player protest during the anthem over the past two seasons.
The Dolphins’ “Proper Anthem Conduct” section is one sentence of the nine-page document that was provided to the AP in a story published Thursday. The collective bargaining agreement allows for fines for up to one week’s pay and suspensions without pay to be as long as four weeks for conduct detrimental to the team.
