SC restaurant celebrates ‘Sunday Funday without the NFL’
David McCraw, owner of the Palmetto Restaurant and Ale House in Greenville, turned off all NFL games on Sept. 24. He kept his televisions NFL free again this Sunday.
He promoted it as “Sunday Funday without the NFL.”
McCraw took his stand because many NFL players didn’t during the national anthem a week ago. More than 200 players kneeled or sat during the anthem last Sunday after President Donald Trump criticized the NFL in a speech and a series of tweets.
Most players in Sunday’s games stood for the national anthem, with a few exceptions.
While McCraw is critical of how NFL players are voicing their displeasure over social issues, he was appreciative of those who supported his controversial stance.
“I would like to thank everyone that came out today to support everyone’s 1st amendment right,” McCraw wrote in a post on Facebook. “The 1st amendment extends on both sides of every argument. You protest during our National Anthem, that’s your right. I stop watching your NFL Games and stop showing your games in my business, that’s my 1st amendment right.”
While NFL players have been showered with boos at stadiums and criticism beyond the gridiron, McCraw boasted about the support he received.
While he did not supply data to back up his claim, he said that this was the restaurant’s “Best Sunday ever.”
As was the case a week earlier, most of the responses to McCraw’s Facebook post were overwhelmingly supportive. Many said they enjoyed their visit, were planning on visiting or took a shot at the NFL players.
Although there were no NFL games to watch, several other sporting events were shown at the Palmetto Restaurant and Ale House. McCraw marketed the day by saying patrons could watch the President’s Cup golf tournament and the NASCAR race, “as we celebrate our freedom to exercise our rights.”
Additionally, McCraw wooed customers by promising the first 50 customers a voucher for a free T-shirt. But not any particular T-shirt, and certainly not one supporting an NFL team.
The shirt up for grabs was an “I Will Stand” T-shirt, which features that phrase with the silhouette of a soldier saluting in the “A.” A fairly direct message about McCraw’s stance.
“I’ve been told today that I’m unAmerican because I don’t support the players when they kneel,” he posted on Facebook. “People, I support your right to kneel and at the the same time I support my right to disagree with you, I support my right to tell you and I support my decision on what I want to see on my TV’s. I’m not at your house changing your channel.”
McCraw’s actions are tame compared to some other restaurants that were angry with the NFL and the players’ protests.
A Kentucky bar let patrons burn and shred NFL jerseys Sunday to protest NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. Top Ten Sports Bar held a “Patriotism Day,” which it’s Facebook page said was “to protest the anti-American, anti-US Military and anti-First Responder stance of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, along with various anti-American NFL players and owners across the league. Patriotic Americans are FED UP and demanding it STOP!”
According to the Top Ten Sports Bar Facebook post any “patriotic American” who brought an NFL item to burn in protest would be eligible for drink specials and other prizes.
A Florida hot dog restaurant offered a free hot dog for any donated NFL jersey or other merchandise to be torched.
This story was originally published October 1, 2017 at 10:51 PM.