A new National Football League season is just around the corner, and many fans will be watching to see if a Kaepernick-less NFL will be free from players protesting the national anthem. Recall that Colin Kaepernick, the former 49er quarterback who started the disrespectful display in the name of social justice, has yet to find an NFL team willing to sign him. Much of the Leftmedia blamed Kaepernick’s unemployment on racism. But the fact of the matter is that Kaepernick’s play over the past two seasons was subpar at best. Add to that the unwanted negative publicity (read: media circus) surrounding his social justice warrior activism and it’s not difficult to understand why team owners are wary of his polarizing presence.

In that vein, on Tuesday NFL Commissioner Rodger Goodell was asked if he had a plan to deal with players who may choose to protest the anthem. From his response it certainly doesn’t sound like it. Goodell stated, “It’s one of those things where I think we have to understand that there are people that have different viewpoints. The national anthem is a special moment to me. It’s a point of pride. But we also have to understand the other side, that people do have rights and we want to respect those.”

The reality is that Goodell and the NFL have a growing image problem, the most popular American sport has quickly become the largest platform for players to protest against America. It’s a problem that may not have existed if the commissioner had chosen to act decisively at the beginning of last season when Kaepernick first started his whole charade. Now, as the league sees its viewership numbers plummet, Goodell finds himself in a conundrum. If he cracks down now on players protesting the anthem, he and the league will be labeled as racists by an already hostile Leftmedia. If he chooses to do nothing, like last season, there will almost certainly be more players “expressing” their right to protest, which will only send more fans to the exits leading to more lost revenue. (Of course, there are some folks boycotting the NFL because Kaepernick has not been hired.)

When a private company allows employees to run around condemning law enforcement and a majority of Americans as racists, that company can’t expect people to keep buying its product. It will be interesting to see if these anti-America protests are allowed to continue within the NFL or if Goodell and Co. finally find a spine.

As a footnote, ESPN, which has its own politically correct culture and viewership problems, isn’t helping matters. Especially not with things like a fantasy football auction for white people to pick black players that some said was a bit too much like a slave auction.