NFL Notebook: Polls say fans split on anthem policy

Two national polls indicate the controversy over the National Football League national anthem policy isn't going away any time soon because the public seems to be divided on the issue. A HuffPost/YouGov survey showed that 41 percent of Americans believe teams should be fined if their players kneel in protest, while 44 percent say they should not, with the remainder undecided. A Yahoo Sports/YouGov poll was more favorable of the NFL's new policy, which will penalize players who do not stand for the national anthem next season. In the second poll, 53 percent of NFL viewers said they support the policy, with 32 percent opposed and 15 percent having no opinion. Those numbers put tens of thousands of Americans on both sides of the issue. While no action was taken against players who knelt or sat during the national anthem the last two seasons, the NFL on May 23 announced the new policy requiring all players to either stand on the field during the national anthem or remain in the locker room. A player who kneels on the field risks incurring fines for his team. President Donald Trump criticized players who knelt during the national anthem last season, saying they should be cut, and NFL owners said in recent depositions that Trump factored into discussions on the new policy, The Wall Street Journal reported. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones shared the details of a phone call with the President while testifying in the Colin Kaepernick collusion grievance. Kaepernick, a former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, started the controversy when he knelt during the national anthem in 2016 to protest police violence and racial inequality. --The Miami Dolphins signed two draft picks, including first-round selection Minkah Fitzpatrick, on Friday. A few hours later, several media sources reported that the Dolphins also signed veteran cornerback Bobby McCain to a four-year, $27 million contract. Fitzpatrick, a defensive back out of Alabama, signed a four-year contract worth $16.4 million, the Miami Herald reported, citing a source. The Dolphins finally were able to get their draft picks into the fold after picking up about $17 million in salary-cap space, the result of former defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh's contract coming off the team's financial ledger on Friday. Miami also signed cornerback Cornell Armstrong of Southern Mississippi, a sixth-round pick, according to a Twitter post by his agent, Brett Tessler, and was expected to come to terms with other players Friday. Fitzpatrick, selected No. 11 overall in the NFL Draft, won the Bednarik and Nagurski awards this season as the nation's premier defender. A two-time first-team All-American, Fitzpatrick filled every role in the secondary for the Crimson Tide in the last three years, including cornerback, strong safety, nickel back and dime linebacker. He set the school record for career interception returns for touchdowns with four. Armstrong had 146 tackles, including 9.5 for loss, and made five interceptions in his four seasons at Southern Miss. McCain's deal reportedly contains $13 million in guarantees, making him the highest-paid slot corner in football. A fifth-round pick out of Memphis in 2015, McCain, is coming off his third season with Miami, and made two interceptions while playing all 16 games. --The Green Bay Packers launched an exclusive microsite, packers.com/100, where fans can experience celebration of the team's 100th season online. The Packers played their first game on Sept. 14, 1919, beating Menominee North End A.C. to start a 10-1 season. Packers.com/100 presents the team's history in a number of ways, including a page on each of the Packers' 10 decades, significant moments, uniforms, historic stadiums and information on each of the 100 teams. The microsite will highlight one moment each day for 100 days leading up to the regular-season opener against the long-time rival Chicago Bears on Sept. 9 at Lambeau Field. Each moment, in no particular order, will examine a particular time in Packers history and include a summary of what made it significant. After all 100 moments have been posted, fans will engage in a season-long tournament in which the moments are placed in brackets, with a new portion of the brackets released each week. Starting in Week 1, fans will vote on their favorite moments, continually narrowing them down until a No. 1 moment in team history is chosen at the end of the season. Fans also will be able to share their favorite Packers story and include pictures with the posts, and are invited to celebrate 100 Seasons on social media by using the hashtags #Packers100 and #PackersStory. The Packers' official 100-year birthday, the day the team was organized, is Aug. 11. --The Los Angeles Chargers signed safety Derwin James to a four-year, $12.39 million contract, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. James, who was the Chargers' first-round pick (No. 17 overall) out of Florida State in the NFL Draft in April, reportedly will receive a $7.1 million signing bonus. Some draft observers considered James a steal for the Chargers at No. 17, as many mock drafts had him possibly going in the top 10. James has lined up primarily at strong safety in organized team activities, "but the Chargers plan to add more to his plate as the offseason moves along," according to the team's official website. --The NFL has suspended wide receiver Victor Bolden Jr. of the San Francisco 49ers for the first four games of the 2018 season for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances. The 49ers issued a statement claiming Bolden said he unknowingly used a supplement that is on the league's banned substance list. "As a professional athlete, I take full responsibility for not verifying the ingredients of the supplement," Bolden said. "In the future, I will be much better educated when choosing what to put in my body. It hurts to know that I will not be on the field with my team for the first four games of the season." Despite the suspension, Bolden is eligible to stay with the team and participate in all offseason and preseason practices, and the 49ers' four exhibition games. Should he make the team, Bolden would be eligible to return to the active roster on Monday, Oct. 1, the day after the 49ers' Week 4 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. General manager John Lynch of the 49ers said in a statement that Bolden made a mistake but learned a "valuable lesson." --Andrew Tornetta, accused of punching a police horse before the Philadelphia Eagles hosted the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game in January, filed a lawsuit against Philadelphia police and the team, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. In his lawsuit filed Wednesday in Philadelphia, Tornetta claims he never struck the horse and accused city and state police with beating him for no reason. Tornetta charged that his "false" arrest and "demonization" in the media caused him to suffer "physical pain, discomfort, trauma, humiliation, embarrassment, emotional distress, sleeplessness, anxiety, inability to perform simple activities of daily living, depression characterized by feelings of despair, hopelessness, and despondency." The 20-year-old Tornetta is seeking damages in excess of $50,000. The Eagles were named in the lawsuit for their failure to properly supervise police who were acting on the team's behalf. Tornetta was the second man arrested in as many weeks for punching a horse. Another Eagles fan, Taylor Hendricks, was charged with aggravated assault, taunting a police animal, simple assault and defiant trespassing for allegedly punching a horse prior to Philadelphia's playoff win over the Atlanta Falcons. Neither the team or city or state police commented on Tornetta's lawsuit. Tornetta had charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to disperse dropped in early March following completion of an accelerated misdemeanor program. He had to complete 12 hours of community service and pay a $222 fine. --Buffalo Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson, the team's 2016 first-round pick, said he has shed 12 pounds in an effort to avert the injuries that have slowed him in his brief NFL career. Lawson was the No. 19 overall pick of the Bills in 2016 after a star-studded career at Clemson. Yet he has appeared in only 21 of 32 games in his first two seasons -- 11 of them starts. "I'm the lightest I've ever been. Right now, I'm like 263 and I used to play at 275," Lawson told the Bills' official website after the conclusion of organized team activities on Thursday. "So I'm 12 pounds lighter and I've got 17 percent body fat. "I'm faster and I just feel a lot more fluid with that weight off me. I want to keep dropping weight. My goal for the start of the season is to be at the most 260 with a 15 percent body fat percentage." An ankle injury in early December ended Lawson's sophomore season. He had a team-high 4.0 sacks at the time before going on injured reserve, forcing him to miss the Bills' first playoff game since 1999. --The Arizona Cardinals signed free-agent running back Sherman Badie, the team announced. Badie, who was undrafted out of Tulane, rushed for 350 yards and three touchdowns on 60 carries in 12 games for the Green Wave as a senior in 2017. The 6-foot, 205-pounder set a career high with 688 rushing yards and three scores as a freshman. He also had 24 catches that year and followed that up with 27 receptions as a sophomore. For his career, Badie averaged 5.1 yards per carry and scored nine rushing touchdowns in 44 games. He added 56 receptions and one score. Badie also saw time on special teams, averaging 23.2 yards on kick returns over his final three seasons, including one for a touchdown as a junior. To clear a roster spot for Badie, the Cardinals released fullback Austin Ramesh. Ramesh retired after dealing with multiple concussions in college. --The Atlanta Falcons signed tight end Jaeden Graham, the team announced. Graham participated in Oakland's rookie minicamp after signing with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of Yale. A first-team All-Ivy League selection in his final season, Graham had 26 receptions and four touchdowns in 2017 for the Bulldogs. To clear a roster spot for Graham, Atlanta waived defensive tackle Joey Ivie with an injury settlement. A seventh-round draft choice of the Dallas Cowboys in 2017, Ivie spent much of last season on the practice squad of the Falcons.