Season #3 - September 2017 (Part 1) - Donald Trump vs. the NFL

A poll conducted this week by the Seton Hall Sports Poll has found that 84% of American support the NFL players’ right to protest,    with only 16% saying the players should be ordered to stand for the anthem or be dropped from the team if they refuse.

Of the 84% supporting the players’ right to protest, 49% felt they should find a different way to express their political opinions, and 35% felt that not standing for the anthem is an acceptable way to protest.  There was a wide racial gap in those saying it was an acceptable form of protest.  70% of African-American chose that option while only 28% of whites did.

The poll of 845 adults (on both landline and cellphone) was conducted across the US on Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday of this week.  It has a margin of error of 3.4%.   

President Trump has called on NFL owners to fire any players who refuse to stand, and on this, he received 28% support overall.  6% of African-Americans supported the president on this; 32% of whites.  Commissioner Roger Goodell and several NFL owners called the president’s comments divisive, to which 50% overall agreed.  In that breakdown, 78% of African-Americans agreed with the commissioner and 47% of whites did. The respondents were asked to choose between those two positions.

Asked about Kaepernick’s lack of a contract by an NFL team, 47% felt it was because of his protests and 19% because he wasn’t good enough.  81% of African-Americans felt it was because of his protest with only 7% saying it was because he was not good enough, while among whites the ratio was 41% (protest) and 22% (ability).