An electronic message imploring fans to tune out of NFL broadcasts in response to some players’ decision to engage in protests during the National Anthem is showing up near a Long Beach area freeway.

Fred Denny, a real estate agent who works in the Long Beach area, said he spent $3,750 for a two-week contract to show his message to motorists driving past the El Paseo shopping center in South Gate. The message, headlined “Shame on the NFL,” declares “NFL disrespects our National Anthem + Flag. We turn off the TV.”

Denny’s message also shows image of the black-and-white POW/MIA flag, a wheelchair-bound veteran silhouetted against the “Stars and Stripes” and, in large letters “One Nation” and “USA.” He wants the sign to resonate with viewers who feel disrespected by protests that take place during the National Anthem.

“I just think it’s a big middle finger to the country. To the vets,” Denny, 58, of Huntington Beach said.

Denny said he and his girlfriend are both the children of military veterans who grew up in households that tilted toward the Democratic Party.

Then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick initiated the National Anthem controversy more than a one year ago. After an early protest August 2016 when Kaepernick declined to rise for a performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Kaepernick explained to NFL Media that he did so to show his objections to police shootings involving people of color.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said at the time. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

Other professional and amateur athletes followed Kaepernick’s example, including several players competing under the banner of Long Beach Poly. Kaepernick himself is no longer on an NFL roster — a fact that has prompted considerable debate over whether team managers are refusing to sign a qualified athlete to avoid political controversy — but Kaepernick’s absence from the playing field has not diffused public arguments over the ethics of protesting during renditions of the anthem.

Indeed, many NFL players knelt during the National Anthem during games that took place during the games of September 24, after President Donald Trump inveighed against kneeling players during an Alabama speech, and then again over Twitter.

If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL,or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect…. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017

…our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU'RE FIRED. Find something else to do! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017

The question of whether it’s right for NFL players to protest during the National Anthem has since generated countless arguments in sports and political media. Different points of view can be perhaps distilled to the contentions that kneeling during the anthem is disrespectful to Americans, particularly veterans, or to the contrary perspective that protest can catalyze social change.

My column today: No Way to Treat Old Glory https://t.co/KZj6yb8qFa — Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) September 26, 2017

My latest piece @thenation "Taking a Knee Is Not About Abstract Unity But Racial Justice" https://t.co/IqGJtOx6uh — Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) September 26, 2017

Denny’s views are more in line with the former position. He thinks it’s wrong for NFL players — who often play in venues subsidized by “Joe Lunchbucket’s” tax payments — to protest while their technically on the job instead of using their personal time and fortunes to support their favored political causes.

He also said that he doesn’t think standing up for the anthem is a signal that someone agrees wholeheartedly with government actions.

“We’re Americans first. Something’s got to unite us,” said Denny.

Denny said his contract with the iKahan, the billboard company that manages the South Gate sign extends into the week following next Sunday’s games.