Adam Gase refuses to take a stand on the National Anthem

The NFL has yet to find a way to avoid National Anthem controversy but Miami Dolphins head coach Adam Gase surely has.

The National Anthem protests have been a huge thorn for the NFL and the Miami Dolphins and Adam Gase have had to deal with the fallout. A month ago the Dolphins were once again in the media crosshairs after they sent a discipline memo to the NFL saying they would suspend players up to four games for kneeling.

The Dolphins said that was taken completely out of context and that it was a requirement by the NFL to submit disciplinary items to them. Miami said they had no intentions on suspending players who chose to kneel for the song. The Dolphins did not say what they would do.

During the off-season the NFL has established rules that would allow teams and maybe even encourage them to fine and/or suspend players. According to the NFL no player is allowed t kneel but players that want to protest the National Anthem can stay in the locker room.

On Tuesday, head coach Adam Gase was adamant that he is not getting involved in any of this stuff. In fact, you can almost hear the irritation in his voice from the words in print alone.

"(In regards to Thursday’s game, how will you instruct your players regarding the national anthem?) – “I’m not instructing anybody for anything.” – MiamiDolphins.com"

Last year the Dolphins faced some backlash from the players union when Stephen Ross said that players were not allowed to kneel for the anthem. He later retracted that and Adam Gase was put into the middle of it. Not this time.

"(So if you do get a player who kneels, what happens next?) – “Talk to somebody else about that. I’m coaching football. I’m not dealing with all of this.”"

Clearly this is a distraction and has been and it has been for both the players and the NFL coaches and executives. Regardless of what side of the protest fence you stand on, it is clearly a divisive issue that is not making forward strides on the public front.

The National Anthem issue is not going away any time soon but clearly Adam Gase wants to concentrate on football and let those in power above him handle the rest of that stuff. However if a player does decide to kneel, what will Gase do when or if that player is suspended by say, Mike Tannenbaum or the NFL? My guess? Nothing.