Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross issued a statement on Friday afternoon, making it clear that the anthem conduct policy that was leaked to the media on Thursday was simply a requirement under the NFL’s new anthem policy.
In addition, Ross makes it clear that the particular sentence regarding potential disciple for players who do not respect the anthem, was a “placeholder.” Since, as Ross says, his team “hasn’t made a decision” on how they would handle a player who violates the new policy.
According to Ross’ statement:
Statement from Owner Stephen Ross pic.twitter.com/cl1mS11HH0
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) July 20, 2018
On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that the Dolphins attached a section titled “Player Anthem Conduct,” to their nine page document regarding player discipline. Shortly after that news became public, the NFL and the NFLPA issued a joint statement announcing that the NFL’s new anthem policy was frozen, pending negotiations with the union.
League owners voted in May on a new anthem policy which required players on the field to stand for the national anthem. The NFLPA filed a grievance last week seeking a “system arbitration,” which would prevent individual teams from meting out their own discipline regarding anthem protests.
The NFL preseason begins in three weeks.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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