The NFL has made notable headlines this past week when teams like the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, and NY Giants decided to kneel or refuse to even come out of the locker rooms for the singing of the national anthem.

Even though one of the freedoms of this great nation is to express our opinions openly and freely, a sports game is not the place.

There should always be a fine line between sports and politics. Football is supposed to bring us together and allow us to tune into the game once a week and forget about everything else in the world, especially the messy and divisive playing field of politics.

I find it wrong and disrespectful for many players to take a knee and make the national anthem a personal statement rather than a unifying and patriotic moment before the game. While football is only a game, it is also a profession and as professionals in this game it is inappropriate for players to make such a political statement such as kneeling for the anthem that celebrates what this country was founded on.

Instead of publicly denouncing the national anthem to all of the world, players should focus on making positive change during their time off the field. Isn’t that sending a better message to the rest of the country?

I have no problem with players standing up for their opinions in their own time, but the game that they are about to play is because of that flag and because of that national anthem. They have the rights to free speech and free expression because of the millions of people who have fought and died for those rights. So while you have every right to exert your freedoms, do not forget the people who have made those freedoms possible.

The last line of the national anthem is “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” And at the end of the day that is what this is all about. This country is the home of the free because of the brave.

No matter your social or political views, we should all stand tall during the national anthem for the people who can’t. For the people who have fought and died for this country, who have been wounded defending this country, and who are currently fighting for the freedoms we are so fortunate to have every day. It is the least we can do to honor and thank these heroes who have given us the freedoms to watch and play a game of football on a Sunday night.