During his appearance on MSNBC’s this Sunday, star of the popular show “Grey’s Anatomy,” Jesse William, claimed that NFL players standing during the national anthem ceremony is no different that “paid patriotism.”
Speaking to MSNBC host, Thomas Roberts, the Hollywood star said that he believes that the concept of having the players in the field for the national anthem is a “scam” designed by the government to convince “boys and girls to go fly overseas and kill people.”
“This anthem thing is a scam,” he said, adding, “This is not actually part of football.”
“[The pregame national anthem] was invented in 2009 from the government [by] paying the NFL to market military recruitment,” William explained, and said that its intent was “to get more people to fight wars to die.”
He added, “This [has] nothing to do with the NFL or the American pastime or tradition. This is to get boys and girls to go fly overseas and go kill people.”
Referring to the concept of “paid patriotism” William argued that the government is “marketing and pumping millions of dollars into the NFL” in order to “get you to go off and fight.”
William received severe backlash from, Dan Bongino, former Secret Service agent and New York Police Department officer. During an appearance on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends, Bongino went on to call Wiliams a “clown” and a “joker.”
“What planet does this clown live on?” Bongino asked. “Is this joker serious that this is some kind of a scam?”
He added, “You know what’s a scam? Hollywood continuing to take our money while they crap all over Americans who give their hard-earned money to watch these people entertain us, and then turn around the very next day and call us all ‘deplorables,’ idiots, and they make fun of us all the time.”
However, back in 2015, Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake issued the following statement, sheds light on Thomas Robert’s inflammatory statements;
“[The Department of Defense] paid for patriotic tributes at professional football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer games. These paid tributes included on-field color guard, enlistment and reenlistment ceremonies, performances of the national anthem, full-field flag details, ceremonial first pitches͕ and puck drops. The National Guard paid teams for the “opportunity” to sponsor military appreciation nights and to recognize its birthday. It paid the Buffalo Bills to sponsor its Salute to the Service game. DOD even paid teams for the “opportunity” to perform surprise welcome home promotions for troops returning from deployments and to recognize wounded warriors.”
