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NFL Tag

The NFL has started an investigation over allegations that Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston groped a female Uber driver in 2016. BuzzFeed News reported:
A letter, viewed by BuzzFeed News, was sent from the NFL’s special counsel for investigations, Lisa Friel, to the Uber driver on Thursday. “The League has been informed that you may have been the victim of such a violation perpetrated by Tampa Bay Buccaneers player Jameis Winston. The league takes allegations of this nature very seriously and has opened an investigation into this matter,” the letter read.

Papa John's, the pizza restaurant chain headquartered in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, has been on a mostly bad publicity roller coaster for several weeks. The company's founder and CEO John Schnatter spoke out against the national anthem protests at NFL games, claiming they were hurting the company's bottom line.

Beloved former Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully has said that he will never watch another football game due to the player protests during the national anthem. From ESPN:
Said Scully: "During the fall and winter, I watch the NFL on Sunday, and it's not that I'm some great patriot. I was in the Navy for a year, didn't go anywhere, didn't do anything, but I have overwhelming respect and admiration for anyone who puts on a uniform and goes to war. So the only thing that I can do in my little way is to not to preach; I will never watch another NFL game."

A disabled Navy veteran has refused to receive an honor from the New Orleans Saints due to some players taking a knee during the national anthem. From NOLA.com:
Retired Navy Cmdr. John Wells, executive director of the national Military Veterans Advocacy, was named a Peoples Health Champion, an award given by the Medicare health insurance advantage organization to citizens over 65 who have made significant accomplishments after reaching "senior citizen" status.

Former President Jimmy Carter sat down for an interview with Maureen Dowd for the New York Times and dropped some pretty interesting bombs.  Dowd focused her write-up on his answer to her question about acting as a go-between for the Trump White House and North Korea.  He said that he would go if asked, and that's certainly both important and within his wheelhouse.  In the interview, however, Carter also defends President Trump and offers surprising assessments of former-president Obama, failed presidential candidate Hillary, and the media. His comments in defense of Trump might be seen as an attempt to ingratiate himself in order to be called upon to assist with North Korea.  Maybe.  But that doesn't explain his apparent candor in unflattering critiques of Obama, Hillary, and the media.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced today that he personally believes that players should stand for the national anthem, but the league will not make it a rule requiring it. From NFL.com:
"I think our clubs all see this the same way -- we want our players to stand, we're going to encourage them to stand and we're going to continue to work on these issues in the community," Goodell told reporters after meeting with team owners at the Fall League Meeting in New York. "We'll address issues -- I can't deal with hypotheticals right now, we'll deal with those issues if they come up -- but for right now, that's our focus."

Former NFL quarter Colin Kaepernick has filed a grievance against NFL owners because he believes they colluded to keep him out of a job due to his protests during the national anthem. Kaepernick first protested in the 2016 preseason when he took a knee during the national anthem. He claimed he protested against racial injustice across the country. The protests took off, with many players following his lead.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced on Sunday that if a player disrespects the flag then he cannot play in the game after a reporter informed him that two players raised their fist after the anthem. From NBC Dallas-Fort Worth:
Jones said "If there’s anything that is disrespectful to the flag then we will not play. Okay? Do you understand? If we are disrespecting the flag then we won’t play, period. But we are going to respect the flag and I’m going to create the perception of it, and we have. I’m not aware and I wouldn’t know what you are talking about, I’m not aware of that but if you say you saw it, then you saw it, but we as a team are very much on the page together, we’ve made our expression that we are together , I’m very supportive of the team, but under no circumstances will the Dallas Cowboys, I don’t care what happens, under no circumstances will we as an organization, or as coaches or players not support and stand and recognize and honor the flag. Period."