A state senator from York County is stepping right into the middle of one of the hottest political flashpoints of the day.

Sen. Mike Regan has said he will introduce a resolution condemning the various player-led national anthem protests that occurred at National Football League games this past weekend.

The protests - an outgrowth of player Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand for the playing of the national anthem last year when he was a member of the San Fransisco 49ers - expanded on Sunday in response to President Donald Trump's call earlier in the week for players to who didn't stand for the anthem to be fired.

Trump also referred at a campaign rally in Alabama to those supporting Kaepernick's protest against racial injustice as "SOBs."

That prompted a backlash through the heavily-integrated league this weekend, as players at stadiums around the country joined together in support of teammates who share concerns about the history of unequal treatment by police.

To Regan, a former U.S. Marshal, the movement was a step too far.

In a co-sponsorship memo circulated earlier this week, he said the stadium protests were "not a harmless exercise of First Amendment rights. It was a deliberate, orchestrated effort to disrespect the anthem and flag of the United States of America, and it cannot go unrebuked."

Calling the stadium demonstrations "anti-American," Regan added "poisonous identity politics have politicized nearly every facet of American life, including our sacred national symbols.... Things have simply gone too far."

Regan's resolution would serve as a public condemnation of the sideline protests but would have no other force of law.

Still, the first-term senator from Carroll Township said it's a point he wants to make, in part to reflect repeated conversations he had with constituents who attended a Senior Expo in his district on Monday.

Regan said the protests from the prior day came up frequently, and "it was sad to see the hurt look in their eyes, almost like they felt their country is getting away from them."

Regan stressed in a telephone interview Wednesday he gets the idea of people exercising their free speech rights, and noted his resolution doesn't stop anybody from taking the same kind of stand going forward.

But, he added, he and those who agree with him have the same right to call out what they see as disrespect to the flag and those who have sacrificed for it.

The resolution is his way of saying that he wishes the players would make their case in other ways, whether it's lobbying for changes in the law, mentoring kids or supporting programs that build connections between police and the communities they patrol.

"We're certainly imperfect (as a nation) and we have out shortfalls," Regan said, referring to the race-based issues that underly the stadium protests.

"But I have always liked to think of that anthem as something that unites us," Regan continued. "I think if we lose that, we're losing something that's a part of the fabric of our existence as Americans."

It is not clear when Regan's resolution, which is still being drafted, would receive consideration in the Senate.

Pennsylvania is not the only state where politicians are reacting to the NFL's day of protest in what - in many cases - are taxpayer-subsidized stadiums.

In Louisiana, a state lawmaker asked officials there to consider cutting off an estimated $165 million in tax breaks for the New Orleans Saints, and a Florida Congressman on Tuesday called into question the NFL's status as a "tax exempt trade organization."

"In America, if you want to play sports you're free to do so. If you want to protest, you're free to do so," said Rep. Matt Gaetz, according to a report in The Washington Post. "But you should do so on your own time and your own dime."

In Pennsylvania, the football stadiums where the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles play were financed in part through $320 million in taxpayer-funded bond issues.

To Regan, it's another issue reason why the state Senate, on behalf of Pennsylvania taxpayers, may want to opine on what goes on there. "The buildings exist because of the taxpayers," he noted.