The NFL is reportedly looking at a rather harsh "fix" for its National Anthem problem. If the solutions the league is currently looking at becoming the law of the land, it's a safe bet that there is going to be significant backlash from the players and the player's union. This is likely why at the present time, the solution that has been leaked is in its earliest stages.

The ideas being kicked around include penalizing a team 15-yards should any of its players decide not to stand during the playing of the Anthem.

The NFL's problem with the Anthem isn't going to end

The NFL's problem with players not standing for the National Anthem started last year when president Donald Trump decided to put the issue front and center. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was the first player to start kneeling, rather than standing during the playing of the song in protest. The quarterback, who once took his team to the Super Bowl, has made it clear that he was kneeling as a way to protest against what he sees as police brutality against black people around the country.

Since Kaepernick started the protest, other players have joined in, and last season, there were enough that Trump and his administration talked about it on a near-daily basis during the NFL season.

Despite the outcries by the administration, the NFL refused to require players to stand during the Anthem last year, but Roger Goodell and his deputies were clearly worried that the issue was hurting attendance.

NFL looking for cooperation through a majority vote among players

The league is still apparently not prepared to universally require standing during the Anthem, but they are looking to enlist a kind of peer pressure to avoid the issue.

According to Albert Breer of Monday Morning Quarterback, one idea that's being kicked around is to allow the home team to say whether or not both teams are going to come out on the field for the Anthem.

If the home team does indeed decide that the teams are going to come out, then if a player from either team decides not to stand, the player will be assessed a 15-yard penalty.

It's not made clear how or where, but it would seem that this would be assessed on the kickoff. As Frank Schwab points out, the issue becomes whether or not the visiting team goes along with what the home team decides.

It should also be pointed out that teams have tried to come up with uniform decisions on whether they are going to stand or stay in the tunnel during the Anthem, and even that drew fire. There doesn't appear to be a solve that the NFL can come up with. This appears to be the very definition of a no-win situation. It also seems like a situation that the league would do better to stay away from and allow it to be up to the player, but the NFL is an organization that loves uniformity and loves imposing its will. The rule is not a rule just yet so it will be interesting to see how this develops now that the idea has been made public.
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