In an unexpected twist to the NFL’s anthem/kneeling saga, President Donald Trump on Friday opened the door to allowing players to demonstrate exactly why they’re protesting, by offering to consider possible pardons based on their recommendations. “I’m going to ask all of those people to recommend to me — because that’s what they’re protesting — people that they think were unfairly treated by the justice system,” Trump said Friday morning. “And I understand that. I’m going to ask them to recommend to me people that were unfairly treated and I’m gonna take a look at those applications and if I find and my committee finds that they’ve been unfairly treated than we’ll pardon them. Or at least let them out.” It’s an indisputably positive statement by a president who’s long been at odds with the NFL. The question, of course, is whether the president will actually carry through on the offer, and if so, how closely he’ll consider the applications. But at least the offer’s on the table, which is something that couldn’t have been said before. The NFL protests, despite what the president and others have tried to claim, are not meant as unpatriotic protests against America, but rather are intended to bring attention to systemic racism and police brutality. And while the pardon offer won’t necessarily impact cases of police brutality, it could, in theory, help mitigate some race-based or unduly harsh sentencing. Shortly after the president made his statement, two-time Super Bowl-winning kicker Lawrence Tynes responded: Mark R. Tynes inmate #05559-017 serving 27 years. Currently in year 16 for selling weed. https://t.co/DHC3kkkO3v — Lawrence Tynes (@lt4kicks) June 8, 2018 Mark Tynes is in prison in Arkansas for what court documents termed “a 324-month sentence for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more but less than 1,000 kilograms of a mixture or substance containing marijuana.” Mark Tynes’ prior history led to the 27-year sentence, one that Story continues “Is my brother guilty? Yes,” Tynes said prior to the 2008 Super Bowl. “But 27 years? I understand how the system works. I was a criminal justice major. I understand what happens if you have priors. But still, 27 years? My brother being in prison isn’t the injustice. The sentence was the injustice.” Expect the president to receive many such appeals in the coming days. How he handles the requests he himself sought will say much about his capacity for good faith in the NFL anthem discussions going forward. President Trump has asked NFL players for recommendations of pardon candidates. (Reuters) ____ Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook. More from Yahoo Sports: • World Cup ref caught on camera accepting bribe • Kobe defends LeBron’s ‘garbage’ teammates • Solo: 2026 World Cup should go to ‘more deserving’ country than U.S. • T.O. makes ‘unprecedented’ Hall of Fame decision<doc-sep>Photo : Chip Somodevilla ( Getty Images ) President Donald Trump won’t handle the basic duties of presidenting, like not tweeting from the White House executive bathroom in the early morning, but now he’s becoming the Oprah of pardons. Advertisement For some reason unbeknownst to anyone, Trump offered to speak with NFL players who have kneeled during the national anthem in protest of the over-policing of black communities, to find out whom they believe he should pardon. Clearly, Trump doesn’t understand how any of this works. Speaking with reporters in front of the White House, Trump began waxing on the recent release from jail of Alice Marie Johnson, the unfairly imprisoned grandmother whose prison sentence he recently commuted, then went on to explain his next moves. “What I’m thinking to do, you have a lot of people in the NFL in particular ... they’re not proud enough to stand for our national anthem ... ,” Trump said, TMZ Sports reports. “I’m gonna ask all of those people to recommend to me ... people that they think were unfairly treated by the justice system [...] friends of theirs or people that they know about, and I’m gonna take a look at those applications. And if I find and my committee finds that they were unfairly treated, then we will pardon them or at least let them out.” While I’ve not spoken with any of the kneeling players, I’d assume that they are cool on the pardoning and would probably just like the president to stop bashing them for protesting the killings of unarmed African-American men, women and children by police. Oh, and they’d probably ask him to get Attorney General Jeff “King Keebler” Sessions to stop emboldening police forces that have violated the constitutional rights of people of color across the country. Clearly the president has the brain capacity of a 3-year-old who views pardoning as a new, shiny toy that he can’t stop playing with, but it would be nice if someone on his senior staff explained to him that the answer to every injustice isn’t pardoning someone.<doc-sep>Getty Images President Trump has railed against NFL players who took a knee during the playing of the national anthem as unpatriotic over the last two years while ignoring the stated reasons for the protests but that changed a bit on Friday. Those reasons center on inequality in the treatment of minorities by law enforcement in the United States and the President said during a press gathering ahead of his trip to the G-7 meeting that players have “seen a lot of abuse, they’ve seen a lot of unfairness” during their lives. He also invited players to make known people they think have been treated unfairly and promised to look into those cases. “I’m going to ask all of those people to recommend to me — because that’s what they’re protesting — people that they think were unfairly treated by the justice system. And I understand that. I’m going to ask them to recommend to me people that were unfairly treated and I’m gonna take a look at those applications and if I find and my committee finds that they’ve been unfairly treated than we’ll pardon them. Or at least let them out.” There’s no way to pardon or let out people who are dead after run-ins with law enforcement, of course. Those deaths and the response to those deaths by law enforcement agencies and the justice system are a major part of what spurred the protests in the first place and were not addressed by the President on Friday.<doc-sep>
Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press President Donald Trump called on NFL players to recommend people for potential presidential pardons on Friday. According to Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper, Trump said he would consider any cases in which players believe people were imprisoned incorrectly: "I'm going to ask all of those people to recommend to me—because that's what they're protesting—people that they think were unfairly treated by the justice system. And I understand that. I'm going to ask them to recommend to me people that were unfairly treated and I'm gonna take a look at those applications and if I find and my committee finds that they've been unfairly treated then we'll pardon them. Or at least let them out." Trump has vocally opposed NFL player protests against racial inequality and police brutality during the national anthem before games. Last year, Trump caused an uproar among NFL players with comments at a political rally in Alabama: "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a b---h off the field right now. Out. He's fired! He's fired!'" Despite that, the president acknowledged Friday that some NFL players have "seen a lot of abuse, [and] seen a lot of unfairness" during their lives. Video Play Button Videos you might like In May, Trump pardoned late heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson, who was convicted of violating the Mann Act in 1913. Johnson served 10 months in prison, but the morality of his conviction was long questioned due to the notion that it was racially motivated. On Friday, Trump said he was also considering a posthumous pardon for boxing legend Muhammad Ali over his refusal to enter the Vietnam War draft in 1966. While he has had issues with protests from NFL players, Trump likely won't have to worry about the issue over the course of the 2018 season. In May, the NFL passed a new policy that will fine teams if players are determined to have disrespected the anthem or the flag. Players will be permitted to remain in the locker room during the anthem if they so choose.