The NFL has turned the national anthem into a literal political football.
This time the league may have gone too far.
And now the latest national anthem decision will have every American wanting to boycott.
Grammy Award winning artist Victory Boyd was set to perform the national anthem at the 2021 kickoff game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys.
Those plans got canceled.
NFL Senior Director for Media and Entertainment Events Seth Dudowsky emailed Boyd’s father and manager informing her that the league canceled Boyd’s performance because she refused to take the coronavirus vaccine.
“As I understand that Victory will not be fully vaccinated by the time of the Kickoff game, she would not have been able to comply with the terms of the Game Day Field Access Policy,” Dudowsky wrote. “And as a result, we, unfortunately, will not be able to invite Victoria to perform the national anthem at this year’s Kickoff game.”
Boyd told the Epoch Times that her Christian faith prevented her from taking the vaccine.
Boyd stated:
The Bible admonishes Christians to appreciate their bodies as being sacred and a temple of the Holy Spirit and to not participate in things that can defile the body or render the body dysfunctional.
I am in prayer to make sure that the Lord guides me into the right decision concerning receiving an unproven injection with artificial properties that can potentially have a longterm effect on my reproductive health.
If I want to take the vaccine, the decision will be between myself, my doctor and my God. At this point, the Spirit of God is leading me to take a stand for freedom of choice.
Throughout my life I have overcome many obstacles, but now I was faced with a new glass ceiling that I couldn’t break through. It feels like we’re going backwards to a familiar place that I thought we had overcome as a country.
To be disqualified because of a discriminatory policy that had nothing to do with my talent made me feel alarmed because of what it implies for not only myself but millions of others.
The NFL would not even allow Boyd to produce a negative test result in order to perform the anthem.
This year the NFL made it clear it is all in on Black Lives Matter.
The so-called black national anthem will play before key games, players can wear the names of individuals killed by police on their helmets, and the league will paint protest slogans in the end zones.
But apparently the only belief the NFL will not tolerate is a deeply-held religious opposition to the coronavirus vaccine.
Meanwhile, more players who have already been vaccinated are testing positive and could be forced to miss games.
Sports with Balls will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
