The Miami Dolphins have apparently released a document to their players dealing with potential discipline during the 2018 season, and protesting during the national anthem is briefly touched upon in the nine page missive.
According to the Associated Press, protesting during the anthem is lumped in with a number of other actions as “conduct detrimental to the club,” and could result in fines or suspensions.
The “Proper Anthem Conduct” section is just one sentence in a nine-page discipline document provided to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the policy who insisted on anonymity because the document is not public. It classifies anthem protests under a large list of “conduct detrimental to the club,” all of which could lead to a paid or unpaid suspension, a fine or both.
A number of Dolphins took a knee during the anthem last year, including (as seen above) Kenny Stills (still with the team), Michael Thomas (signed with the Giants this offseason), and Julius Thomas (currently a free agent). Stills and Michael Thomas both protested in 2016 as well.
Back in March, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross vowed that the Dolphins would stand for the anthem after initially supporting the protests. In May, the league considered letting teams create their own anthem policy, which eventually led to a policy that was roundly criticized by the NFLPA (among others). Earlier this week, Jurrell Casey of the Titans vowed to continue protesting during the anthem, fines be damned.
UPDATE: The NFL and NFLPA released a joint statement that they have been ” working on a resolution to the anthem issue” and have “come to a standstill agreement on the NFLPA’s grievance and on the NFL’s anthem policy.”
https://t.co/4dEMTwzbLv pic.twitter.com/sMp8zInCZZ
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) July 20, 2018
