After directing the Packers to observe a moment of silence one day after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the NFL allowed the various teams that hosted games to decide how to handle the situation over the balance of the weekend.
During the 13 games played on Sunday, six did and seven did not.
The Dallas Cowboys did. After the overtime win against the Giants, owner Jerry Jones explained his decision.
“We just all abhor violence,” Jones said, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “And it’s impacting us all. And, certainly, we all stand together on any front, relative to the threat of violence. . . . I was a young guy, but aware, in the ‘60s when we had huge violence, lost President Kennedy and his brother and many, many others, Martin Luther King. It’s something that we all really need to just be aware of, support our law enforcement, and do everything we can to keep the violence in check.”
There is no place for political violence in a civilized society. Unfortunately, it’s starting to feel like the ‘60s all over again, with assassinations and attempted assassinations happening far too often.
There’s also no simple answer. It’s easy to say we need to unite as a nation. It’s proving to be difficult to accomplish that.
Hopefully, our leaders on both sides of the aisle will set aside politics and commit to the greater good that we all should strive to achieve.
“One nation. Under God. Indivisible. With liberty and justice for all.”
We say those words every time we recite the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s time for all of us to start living them.