CHANGE: Cowboys owner: I’ll bench anyone who disrespects the flag. “That brings us to one key reason why fans are revolting over the protests, as I explained in my column for The Week yesterday. They are stealing a moment of unity from the taxpaying saps that gave the NFL essentially free stadiums, and now doing so on an explicitly partisan basis. . . . NFL fans expect Sunday football to be an escape from the politicization of all things. There are many reasons for this — but a not insignificant one is that taxpayers provide publicly funded stadiums to billionaire owners and millionaire players for almost every team in the league. We are all footing the bill for NFL players’ workplaces. Why should they become venues for partisan protest? . . . The NFL doesn’t appear to have figured this out. It’s not just about the flag, but about the theft of trust with the fans, all for a series of silly and impotent protests. The multimillionaires on the field and their billionaire owners have plenty of platforms for social protest and activism. Fans want them to stop hijacking the one that taxpayers got shafted to provide.”