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PLAINS TWP. — The eight televisions at the Polish American Veterans club will be on Sunday afternoon. They just won’t be tuned to any football games.
The club is participating in a nationwide boycott of NFL games over the Veterans Day weekend in reaction to players kneeling during the national anthem.
The players say it’s a way to bring attention to what they allege is unfair treatment of minorities by law enforcement.
Club commander Jerome Majeski sad Wednesday his organization wants to be part of a united stance against the protests, which many see as disrespectful to the flag and anthem.
“Our reason for doing this is because we want to join with the other veterans organizations throughout the United States that are doing the same thing,” said Majeski, 72, a Marine Corps veteran from the Vietnam era and retired state trooper.
Boycott The NFL is promoting the protest on a Facebook page and encouraging people to neither watch nor listen to the games “in solidarity with veterans around the country, as football players have continued to disrespect the national anthem, the American flag, and everything our nation stands for.”
The boycott was brought up at the Oak Street club’s monthly meeting Nov. 1 and the pros and cons discussed, Majeski said. As expected, it had unanimous support among the 35 members in attendance. “Nobody said other than, ‘Yeah. Let’s do it,’” Majeski said.
A sign has been posted on the club’s front entrance alerting members of the daylong boycott, and individual signs will be placed under the TVs. It could be more than a one-time thing if the members decide to continue the boycott, Majeski said.
For John Magda, 76, of Wilkes-Barre, a club member and Army veteran, going without watching his Miami Dolphins or any other NFL team is a matter of honor. He hasn’t watched a game this season, he said.
“We served time out of our life. We served,” said Magda.
“I don’t like the fact that these high-paid people are using this as their way that they’re trying to get their message out,” said Mike Boncheck, 80, who served with the Navy Seabees.
An Oakland Raiders fan, Boncheck looked to the past to what he recalled were protest-free better days.
“When Tom Landry was the coach of the Cowboys, they stood with their helmets under their arms, their hands on their heart, all in a row. I used to love that. I’m not a Cowboys fan, but I just admired Tom Landry and his team for doing that,” Boncheck said.
Eagles bye no factor
The boycott has nothing to do with the Philadelphia Eagles, Majeski’s team, having a bye this weekend and not being on TV. It has everything to do with taking a stand, even if it drives away members.
“I doubt if we will lose patronage. I don’t think so. We’re willing to sacrifice that if we have to,” Majeski said.
He was more critical of the team owners and the NFL leadership for not responding to the player protests.
“It shouldn’t have gone this far. It should have been handled a long time ago and that’s the sad part about it because it’s starting to snowball,” Majeski said.
The retired trooper agreed with Boncheck that the players should use other venues to get their point across, a point he disagrees with.
“It’s the way police are treating blacks, minorities. I was a cop for 26 years. Every case is different. Every situation is different. They’re putting them into one bag and saying all those situations with cops are wrong, it seems that way,” Majeski said.
Maybe some are wrong and others justified, but the players don’t have all the information, Majeski continued. “They’re not there. They have no idea. I have no idea. Maybe the cop is a jerk. I don’t know that,” he added.
The private social club has 1,750 members and none of them are black and only one is Hispanic, said Majeski. But blacks and minorities have visited the club as guests of members and are welcome to apply to join, he said.