Kaepernick critic Roger Goodell is literally a Senator's son

It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no Senator's son, son It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no fortunate one, no

-- Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" in 1969

* * *

As if the symbolism baked into the ongoing saga of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's protests during pregame renditions of the national anthem wasn't heavy-handed enough, here comes league commissioner Roger Goodell absolutely nailing his role.

Goodell wrapped himself in the American flag Wednesday in critiquing Kaepernick's method, if not the quarterback's message.

Kaepernick is a black man in America protesting the second-class status endured by so many black people in the United States. It's a subjugation no better illustrated than through the roll call of unarmed black males who have died at the hands of law enforcement since -- since, well, pretty much forever in American history, but especially over the past couple years.

Goodell, meanwhile, is a Senator's son.

That's not a metaphor borrowed from Creedence Clearwater Revival; Goodell's father was literally a United States Senator. Almost 50 years after Creedence's "Fortunate Son" became an iconic illustration of America's haves and have-nots, here we are.

"I don't necessarily agree with what he is doing," Goodell told the Associated Press of Kaepernick via email Wednesday.

"I support our players when they want to see change in society, and we don't live in a perfect society," Goodell said. "On the other hand, we believe very strongly in patriotism in the NFL. I personally believe very strongly in that.

"I think it's important to have respect for our country, for our flag, for the people who make our country better; for law enforcement; and for our military who are out fighting for our freedoms and our ideals."

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Kaepernick's ongoing refusal to stand during the national anthem before San Francisco 49ers games has earned him many supporters in the sports world and beyond. But Goodell's criticism Wednesday echoes much of the mainstream reaction: We recognize your message, but this is neither the time nor the place to deliver it.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said essentially the same thing last week. And -- as we covered in more detail here -- it's exactly the kind of thinking that none other than civil rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr., railed against in his famous "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," which he penned from behind bars way back in 1963.

King argues that the "great stumbling block" in the quest of black Americans for equal rights isn't overt racists, "but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice." This is a person, King writes, "who constantly says: 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action'; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a 'more convenient season.'"

That's what Goodell, a white Senator's son who grew up with means and became even richer, is telling Kaepernick, an activist-athlete trying to improve conditions for millions of mistreated people: Your message I will tolerate, but this isn't a very convenient time to deliver it.

This not an uncommon refrain. When I was growing up, my father told me a story from 1968. King had just been assassinated and my dad was at a Long Beach burger joint. Two older white men were there too, and he overheard part of their conversation.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"It's too bad," one said to the other about King's assassination, "but he was just trying to move too fast."

Roger Goodell's father, Charles Goodell, was once a Republican senator from New York. Charles Goodell was actually something of a "liberal hero" who opposed the Vietnam War, but that misses the point: Roger Goodell is a son of privilege using vague tropes of patriotism and the American flag to deflect the substance of Kaepernick's message.

Goodell is such a son of privilege that his precise station in life was immortalized in an anthem of the 1960s. That doesn't make him a bad person, but it is what makes his oblique critique of Kaepernick so hollow. Factor in the NFL's complicated relationship with the U.S. military and the situation becomes stickier still.

This May, the NFL returned $723,734 to the United States Department of Defense, money it had accepted for displays of patriotism before and during NFL games -- think joyous reunion ceremonies and giant American flags big enough to cover the entire field during the pregame anthem. It's called "paid patriotism." In many cases, fans at games had no idea the spectacles they were witnessing had been paid for -- making them more akin to advertisements then celebratory displays of respect.

There's also another, and more disturbing, correlation between the NFL and the military -- one that gets back to the very beginning of this story.

The NFL as military lite

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The most literal reading of Creedence's "Fortunate Son" lyrics laments how the privileged were often able to avoid the Vietnam War, while the less fortunate were forced to go fight.

Now, writing for New York this week, Will Leitch noted a 2014 Bloomberg study that said 62 percent of families earning more than $100,000 don't want their kids playing football.

"But there’s a big difference between not wanting your kids to play football and not wanting to watch football," Leitch wrote. "They’re obviously still watching. In fact, more of them are. For the wealthy -- that is to say, the decision-makers -- in this country, it turns the NFL into something like the military. They’d rather their kids not take part, but they’d happily support your kids’ doing so."

Different tracks for different folks. Sound familiar?

That's exactly the sort of nation that Kaepernick and his supporters are trying save America from being. Goodell and others appear to have missed this point entirely while hiding behind the same hemming and hawing that King criticized.

As Kaepernick himself said on Sept. 1: “I’m not anti-America. I love America. I love people. That’s why I’m doing this. I want to help make America better."

Confronting hard truths while seeking real solutions? That's true patriotism of the sort to put puffy-chested -- but ultimately hollow -- declarations to shame.