Vince McMahon picked the perfect time for the relaunch of the XFL. There’s currently a ton of controversy within the NFL over the National Anthem. Several years ago, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began to kneel during the playing of the National Anthem.
Kaepernick began the silent protest to shed light on what he believes to be an epidemic of injustice against people of color at the hands of police within the United States. The topic has attracted mainstream attention and has divided the United States even further. While some sympathize with the protest, others believe the playing of the Anthem is nor the place or time.
Vince McMahon is part of the latter. During the announcement of the XFL’s relaunch, McMahon called the playing of the anthem before sporting events, “a time-honored tradition.” He made it very clear that players in the XFL would be required to stand during the anthem being played.
XFL And The Anthem
XFL CEO and commissioner Oliver Luck dove further into the topic. He appeared on former Green Bay Packers linebacker AJ Hawk’s podcast, The HawkCast. Here’s what he had to say on the matter:
“Vince feels strongly about that, so that will be one of those things that will differentiate us from the NFL. Remember, unlike the NFL we will not have a union when we start. There won’t be collective bargaining….we could say to a player, ‘Hey there is a clause in the contract that says I hereby agree to stand for the National Anthem.’
“Period. End of story. That won’t have to be collectively bargained. My position would be as long as a player knows beforehand that that’s part of the contract then that’s a workplace rule and we can enforce that workplace rule.
“If you go into a contractual situation, knowing what the workplace rules are, you’re obligated to follow those rules, otherwise there will be consequences.”
H/T WrestleZone for the transcriptions
