To the highly-paid, under educated, intellect challenged, and over-pampered professional athletic players who "take a knee" during the playing of the National Anthem:
So, you want to take a knee?
Take a trip to Valley Forge in January. Hold a musket ball in your fingers and imagine it piercing your flesh and breaking a bone or two. There won't be a doctor or trainer to assist you until after the battle. Wait your turn while listening to the screams of pain from the wounded.
Then take a knee.
Go to Gettysburg and stand on Round Top. Consider the slaughter that occurred during that battle as well as at other battle sites during the American Civil War to free blacks from the shame of slavery. Whites fought whites to undo injustice in our country.
Then take a knee.
Go to Normandy where man after American man stormed the beach, dodging dead bodies and withering machine gun fire,...the very sea stained with American blood. Imagine that your fellow players are your dead brothers in arms.
Then take a knee.
Visit the battle sights in Korea where the initial defensive battalion of American troops of the 24th Infantry Division fought bravely and were slaughtered by the hoards of invading North Korean forces in June 1950. Our engagement in Korea resulted in the freedom of South Korea, even as it took the lives of 38,000 Americans. It was the first war where black and white troops were fully integrated into fighting and support units.
Then take a knee.
Take a knee in the sweat soaked jungles of Vietnam. Over 60,000 Americans died in those jungles.There was no playbook or million dollar contracts for doing your job, but they understood what our flag represented. When they came home, they were protested by their fellow Americans. These brave men were spat upon by mostly young students who did everything to avoid the war.
Then take a knee while they spit on you.
Take another knee in the blood drenched sands of Fallujah in 110 degree heat..Trade in your pads for a Kevlar helmet and battle dress...You'll have to stay hydrated, but there won't be anyone to squirt Gatorade into your mouth. And watch out for those IEDs when you take a knee.
There's a lot of places to take a knee. Americans have given their lives all over the world. When you use the banner under which they fought as a source for your protest, you dishonor the memories of those who bled for the very freedoms you have. That's what the red stripes mean. It represents the blood of those who spilled it defending your liberty.
So while you're on your knee, pray for those that came before you, not on manicured fields striped and printed with numbers to announce every inch of game yardage...but on nameless hills and bloodied beaches and sweltering forests and bitter cold mountains...every inch marked by an American life lost serving that flag you protest.
No cheerleaders, no announcers, no coaches, no fans...just American men and women on the land, air, and sea, delivering the real fight against those who chose to harm us..so you would have the opportunity to dishonor their service by "taking a knee."
You have no clue what it took to get you where you are...but your "protest" is duly noted. Not only is it disgraceful to a nation, it points to your ingratitude for those who chose to defend you under that banner that will still wave long after your stats and game jersey are forgotten... Consider the sacrifices that so many Americans have made so that you have the privilege of pursuing your well-rewarded athletic career. Then, reflect on the meaning of "taking a knee".
