NY Giants owner says players won’t be punished for protesting during anthem

New York Giants owner Steven Tisch said earlier this week that he won’t punish players on his team who protest during the national anthem.

“We support our players,” Tisch told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday. “They are not going to be punished. There is not going to be any punitive action taking place against them.”

The co-owner also told the magazine that he hoped President Trump wouldn’t weigh in on the NFL protests during the upcoming season.

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“Hopefully he’ll have much more going on that he’s going have to deal with and should deal with and must deal with than worrying about what NFL players do,” Tisch told the Reporter. “He has no understanding of why they take a knee or why they’re protesting. When the new season starts, I hope his priorities are not criticizing the NFL and telling owners what to do and what not to do.”

Tisch made the comments ahead of the NFL’s announcement on Thursday that it would freeze its new policy banning players from kneeling during the national anthem.

The league said that it came to “a standstill agreement” on the policy as it worked with the NFL Players Association over a grievance the union filed over the policy one week earlier.

Trump also lashed out over the policy in a tweet on Friday, saying the protesting players should be blocked from playing. 

The NFL National Anthem Debate is alive and well again – can’t believe it! Isn’t it in contract that players must stand at attention, hand on heart? The $40,000,000 Commissioner must now make a stand. First time kneeling, out for game. Second time kneeling, out for season/no pay!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2018