Veteran Walked Out After Players Kneeled For Anthem – Now They Are Punishing Him For It

There are so many people who have been upset by sports players kneeling for the National Anthem and they are reacting by refusing to expose themselves to it. Some are refusing to watch the games, others are protesting by walking out and some, like this 67 year-old Air Force veteran, are refusing to do their jobs working the games so they no longer have to partake in the disrespect.

When Jim Saddler – who served as a presidential flight attendant for Ronald Reagan – saw one of the members of the high school team he was refereeing for was kneeling during the anthem, he decided that he had it with the “protest” and left.

The man works several jobs, including refereeing local high school sports games. On October 9th, he was working a game when he noticed that several people in the stands were sitting during the anthem. While this frustrated him, he initially brushed it off. It wasn’t until he saw one of the players from North Central kneeling that he made his move.

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He placed his flag on the scorers’ table, warned the coach that he was leaving and handed the assistant director a $20 bill (what he would have made during the game) and walked out.

I guess only certain kinds of protests are acceptable in sports, because Saddler has been suspended from his duties for a full year.

When asked how he felt about what he did, the veteran said that he “feels bad about it,” saying that he “went AWOL.”

“In the Air Force, you have a duty and you do it,” he said during an interview. “The same with sporting events. I guess I went AWOL. I feel bad about it.”

“What they did just upset me so badly that I just could not stay there,” he continued. “I know it’s her constitutional right to do what she wants to do. And it wasn’t fair to the girls who were standing there and respecting the flag. After I thought about it, you know, sometimes it takes you a little time to sit down and think about stuff and what you did. And after I thought about it, I would never ever do that again. I would never break a contract.”

Afterward, he tried apologizing to the IHSAA and attempted to get his suspension reduced, but it didn’t work. According to IHSAA commissioner Bobby Cox, being a referee at the games is a “privilege, not a right.” Ironic, considering that neither is playing in these games, yet all of the sudden we need to tread carefully around the player’s delicate feelings.

Should he be suspended for what he did?