Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella has dropped his hard-line stance against those who would protest during the playing of the U.S. national anthem. He also has a suggestion for a way the sports world could help the country unite.
This is a deeply personal topic for Tortorella and his entire family, as his son, Nick Tortorella, 30, is an Army Ranger. As the anthem plays before NHL games, the 62-year-old coach whispers a prayer while standing on the bench with his players.
But Tortorella told The Athletic on Wednesday that his position has changed through “listening and watching” over the past few years, and especially in recent weeks as protests have been staged in Columbus and across the country following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
“When I stand for the flag and the national anthem, my reflection is solely on the men and women who have given their lives defending our country and constitution and freedom, along with those who are serving today,” Tortorella said.
“I have learned over the years, listening and watching, that men and women who choose to kneel during this time mean no disrespect toward the flag.”
That’s a dramatic change for Tortorella from just four years ago.
At the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, Tortorella, Team USA’s coach in the tournament, famously told ESPN’s Linda Cohn: “If any of my players sit on the bench for the national anthem, they will sit there the rest of the game.”
At that time, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick had ignited a firestorm across the country by sitting during the national anthem before NFL games. (He was later convinced by former NFL player and Green Beret Nate Boyer to kneel during the anthem instead of sit.)
Tortorella said he would no longer punish a player who wanted to protest.
“The World Cup is a little bit of a different story; that’s playing for your country,” Tortorella said. “But that isn’t now.
“I would hope that if one of my players wanted to protest during the anthem, he would bring it to me and we would talk about it, tell me his thoughts and what he wanted to do. From there, we would bring it to the team to discuss it, much like it’s being discussed in our country right now.
“How can we rectify some of these problems?”
