Share
Sports
Commentary

Flashback Video: Christian Singer Crushes First NFL National Anthem of Season, Gets Roaring Applause

 By C. Douglas Golden  September 8, 2023 at 5:54am
Share

Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.

What a difference a couple of years makes.

In 2016, then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started a political protest movement by kneeling for the national anthem. As you’re no doubt aware, that turned into a contagion — not just among NFL players, but in other sports as well.

In 2018, ESPN announced before the season it wouldn’t be broadcasting the national anthem before its NFL broadcasts that year. The year beforehand, then-ESPN personality Max Kellerman said that the mere act of playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” was “injecting politics” into sports.

He was hardly alone. In 2020, Sports Illustrated floated the idea of stopping the tradition of playing the national anthem before games period, full stop.

On the night of Sept. 7 in Kansas City, Missouri, the league seemed to be singing a different tune — even if a contemporary Christian artist was singing the same old national anthem that existed long before Kaepernick turned it into a symbol of everything the left reviled.

Natalie Grant, best known for singles such as “I Will Not Be Moved” and “Speak the Name,” was the anthem-singer for the traditional Thursday-after-Labor Day season opener featuring last season’s Super Bowl champion playing at home — in this case, the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

And boy, did that announcement sound quite a bit different than it might have in seasons past.

“Nine-time Grammy nominee and five-time Gospel Music Association Female Vocalist of the year Natalie Grant will sing the national anthem while the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard will present the colors. The flyover will be conducted by the 110th and 393rd Bomb Squadron’s B-2 Stealth Bombers out of Whiteman Air Force Base,” the Chiefs said in a statement Thursday.

A gospel singer, a sheriff’s office honor guard and a military flyover. Somewhere in this cold, hard world, Robin DiAngelo is feeling very white and fragile right now.

And, of course, Grant nailed it:

Related:
NFL QB Pauses to Pray for Injured Opponent in the Fourth Quarter of a Close Game

And that wasn’t the only praise Grant was getting for her rendition of the anthem:

Now, Grant’s rendition didn’t help the hometown Chiefs, who fell 21-20 to the Detroit Lions.

That said, it might have helped the NFL a whole heck of a lot, no matter how the Chiefs managed to do on the field.

After seven years of anthem-kneeling controversy, the league seems to have learned a lesson from its official beer sponsor, Bud Light: The era of conservative fans taking the slow creep of wokeness into every crevice of American society with a complacent shrug is over.

(In fact, a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” — which has been labeled the “black national anthem” — before “The Star-Spangled Banner” was met with some booing.)

Will the NFL move past its national anthem scandal?

Whatever feelings fans have about the league’s anthem-kneeling antics — or its preposterous decision to add the words “End Racism” and “It Takes All of Us” to the back of its end zones after the tumultuous summer of 2020 — are already baked into how fans feel about the league.

However, the decisions it makes going forward aren’t. Those kinds of stunts aren’t going to fly anymore.

Natalie Grant may have nailed the anthem — but more importantly, the NFL nailed the moment.

Whether it keeps the vibe up is another question entirely, but conservative fans had reason to cheer that Thursday night whether their sympathies were with the Chiefs or the Lions.

A Note from Our Founder:

 

Silicon Valley and the Big Tech tyrants have done everything they can to put The Western Journal out of business. Our faithful members have kept us going.

 

If you’ve never chosen to become a member, let me be honest: We need your help today.

 

I also want to send you an autographed copy of “Counterpunch,” which will give you a plan to fight back for our beloved country.

 

Join right now – The Western Journal stands for truth in this difficult time.

 

Please stand with us by becoming a member today.

Floyd G. Brown
Founder of The Western Journal

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , , , , , , , , ,
Share
C. Douglas Golden
Contributor, Commentary
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




Biden Orders Gov't Org Responsible for Weather Forecasts to Use 'Special' Indian Knowledge
Study: It Will Take 18 Years to Build Enough Replacements for Weapons Going to Ukraine
As Trust in Health Care Craters, Pharmacist Reveals 5 Biggest 'Scam' Medications to Watch Out For
Google Goes Fully Woke in New Christmas Ad, Sparking Calls for Boycott
National Spelling Bee Works in a Woke Surprise for Third Graders Among Study Words
See more...

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.

Conversation