Why not set the whole issue aside by not singing the national anthem at NFL games?
The practice of singing the U.S. anthem at sporting events dates back to the late 1800s and gained ground at Major League Baseball games around the time the United States entered the First World War. Thus not only patriotism, but militarism became connected with the proxy wars of the gladiators on the field.
Indeed, the American military and American professional sports have become so intertwined, reaching apotheosis in the extravagances of the pre-game rituals of the Super Bowl, that the NFL surprised many earlier this summer when it returned $724,000 it was paid by the Defense Department to host patriotic celebrations at games.
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