Earlier on Wednesday, the NFL announced a new rule regarding anthem protests and it didn’t take long for the NFLPA to draw a line in the sand, ready for battle against the league.
National Football League Players Association spokesperson George Atallah stated that they intended to fight any alteration to NFL policy that forces players to stand during the national anthem.
“We were not consulted ahead of this meeting on any potential changes to the anthem policy,” Atallah said, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
“If there are changes to the policy that put players in a position where they could be disciplined or fined, we are going to do what we always do—fight anything that encroaches on players’ rights to the end.”
Shortly after the leagues announcement of the policy, the NFLPA posted a statement on Twitter saying it will “review the new ‘policy’ and challenge any aspect of it that is inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement:”
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) May 23, 2018