Dear NFL players who have chosen so callously to disrespect our American flag and all it represents, please know that I will be giving up all Sunday, Monday and Thursday NFL football.
You cannot change what our American flag represents — you cannot just decide that you want our flag and national anthem to represent your personal vendettas. Our flag and anthem represent America, our people and those who fight for our freedom. Red symbolizes hardiness and valor, white symbolizes purity and innocence, and blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice.
If that isn’t enough for you to stand with your hand on your heart, then you may need to re-evaluate your disrespectful disgrace on the field of a game we all loved.
I do want to thank you for many, many years of watching most of you play a game with all of your might and heart. I had my favorite teams, but I cheered for all of you. No more. You can have my season tickets. You go home to your multimillion-dollar homes and lifestyles and I will choose to make Saturdays my day for football.
At least I won’t have to try to explain your flagrant disrespect by kneeling and thrusting fists during our national anthem to my two little grandsons.
Charlene Long, Salt Lake City