We agree with the Giants’ decision to bring a French flag out onto the playing field as a sign of solidarity with the people of Paris in the days after the horrific terrorist attacks on the city. We think they could’ve executed this a bit better:
The Giants put a tiny French flag next to their 100-yard long American flag
The NFL doesn’t really do subtlety well.
You can see the French flag at the bottom left of this image, around the “S” in the end zone “GIANTS.” The American flag spans looks to be about 90 yards and 50 yards wide, which is about 40,000 square feet, while the French flag looks to be about five yards by maybe two yards, maybe 100 square feet.
We get that the Giants were trying to do a nice thing, and we should be applauding them for that! But when you put a flag 1/400th the size of another flag, it kiiiiiinda looks like you care about the other country 1/400th as much as the other country?
It’s possible to be patriotic while showing your support for another country. Army’s football team did a wonderful job of that Saturday. But the NFL doesn’t really do subtlety, so 40,000 square foot flag it is.
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SB Nation presents: Good riddance to paid patriotism
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