NFL wins big with Salute to Service commercials

The NFL made its best move of the year this weekend with the Veterans Day commercials. Since last year the debate about players kneeling has dominated NFL headlines. The reason players were kneeling was police brutality against unarmed people of color and inequality. It was somehow distorted by the media into an anti military national anthem protest, which angered and hurt many Americans.

Finally, the NFL has answered critics by taking a page out of the NBA “handbook”. Remember when the NBA had the “Malice in the Palace” (fan fight with players); the league and its players were looked at as thugs and unruly. Not long after that, the NBA started its NBA Cares commercials. It was a genius move showing their players in the community reading to kids, feeding the homeless, and teaching basketball. Now nearly 10 years since then, how are NBA players viewed? They look professional, caring, and admirable.

The NFL initially tried the worst tactic of all to handle the backlash from the protests. They tried to reason with the masses and debate the mob that is social media. Have you ever tried to reason with someone who won’t let common sense get in the way of their argument? It doesn’t work.

Yesterday the NFL finally became proactive about the image of their players in the community. The league made commercials with players who had kneeled talking about military service and their appreciation for them. Many teams also had demonstrations on the sidelines with servicemen and women that were televised during the game. These things will go a long way to healing the hearts of those who are angered by the protests.

For years I called for the NFL and NFLPA to do significantly more than they had been doing to commercialize the great things the players do out in the community. Nothing endears people to players more than commercials or packages that pull at the heartstrings. Did anybody listen? Nope. I believe that part of the hesitation was because the owners want the players to largely be nameless, faceless, interchangeable pieces.

The truth is that NFL players like the public, love the military and wholeheartedly support the military. They visit bases and are extremely active in the support of the military, but it rarely gets shown.

The NFL won big time with the commercials. Hopefully the league continues to promote the Salute to Service and other campaigns to positively promote its players. They even made a website for it.