I feel that when a football player is on the clock and getting paid by their team that they should follow the team's rules. If the team allows kneeling, then that is at the player's discretion. Would I prefer they do that? No. But I do believe in their right to freedom of expression. Kneeling is more respectful than standing with no hand on heart. When they are not on the clock for the team, a lot of them have moral clauses. However, I don't think their freedom of speech should be muzzled, whether I agree with what they have to say or not. The first time the Star Spangled Banner was played before a sporting event was 1918 and it did not become a regular occurrence until 1945. Our country did just fine for 170 years before 1945, so I don't think the lifeblood of our union is dependent on whether Kaepernick chooses to kneel. I also, feel he was over-punished by the NFL for kneeling. He would have made a decent backup QB on just about every team in the league, yet none would touch him. I don't think Kaepernick was saying that he didn't love America. He was trying to bring attention to racial inequality and judicial injustice. I think the country has woken to the fact that we still have more to go to make the police and judicial system fair and equal to all races.