People mistakenly argue that these football players have a First Amendment right to protest, but, in fact, they have no such right under the law. The problem with the “free speech” debate is that most people, including those in the media, are using false legal arguments. These NFL “superstars” take a knee because of their perceived grievances towards America. But this venue is inappropriate because there are no First Amendment protections for employees in non-governmental organizations. The First Amendment is only a restraint upon governmental actors’ ability to silence protestors.
This means that if the NFL owners decided to discipline or even fire the players because of their failure to stand for the national anthem (which is in the rules by the way) the player/protesters have no right to sue under the F ...