When NFL owners voted Wednesday to implement a policy regarding protests during the playing of the national anthem, the proposal was approved by a show of hands. There were no “nay” votes, although San Francisco’s Jed York and Oakland’s Mark Davis say they abstained. Others might come forward with the same claim later.
That was as formal as it got. There was no roll call that would have put individual owners on the spot, separating them from the security of the herd. Deciding that protesters were acceptable as long as they remained unseen in the locker room was just that easy.