[Carl in Tampa]

The execrable behavior of Kaepernick is directly on the shoulders of the National Football League and whatever team he played for when he began the "taking the knee" during the National Anthem.

The fact is that the Supreme Court has decided that disrespect for the American Flag, including burning it, is protected as "Free Speech" under the First Amendment. Presumably, this extends to disrespect for the National Anthem.

However, both the NFL and the team for which Kaepernick played had the power to regulate the behavior of their employees, to include being fired for disrespect for the Anthem.

I know this because I have spent decades working for an agency that could and would fire an employee for using what we now euphemistically call "the N word." It was included in the Standard Operating Procedures for the agency, which all employees had to agree to adhere to as a condition of employment.

In the case of players in the NFL, an identical rule could be made, either by the League or an individual team, in which a person who disrespected the Anthem, either on or off the field, would bring dismissal.

They have chosen not to do it. Accordingly, they are culpable for the behavior of Kaepernick. It's as simple as that.

And, of course, just because a person takes advantage of the First Amendment, that does not make him a hero. Kaepernick's behavior was, and is, execrable.