The second week of the NFL is upon us, and with it will come more conversations on nationalism, our national anthem, and stories of those athletes who have chosen to kneel during the anthem as a form of protest.

For the record, I am as equally disturbed seeing Usain Bolt or Sam Kendricks make posturing demonstrations of reverence during our national anthem as I am watching NFL players make self-aggrandizing, pseudo-protests during it. Nationalism is a dangerous beast to play games with, particularly in our current political climate; and taking a simple, respectful formality of sport and turning it into a litmus test for patriotism or a visible fracture to our national cohesiveness serves the interests of no one in our general citizenry.

The NFL exists as a marketing machine , as do, to be fair, all televised sporting events. Athletes compete through endless commercial breaks to see who can sell us the most razors, pizzas, U-cut blue jeans (not those dreaded V-cut kind), insurance, ionized water, sports apparel, copper infused bracelets, shaving cream, compact and luxury cars, television bundles, and we even get to watch them become human billboards during pre and post-game press conferences. The individual athlete becomes a collage of the various products they represent, all being lesser to their overall celebrity value. While the attempt to highlight the grievances of a community through protest is admirable, the marketing function professional athletes have long taken on as a perk of their privileged careers makes their protest of the national anthem seem petty, disingenuous, and disrespectful to most watching.

Petty because the purpose of, what can at best be deemed a passive, protest is lost altogether within the athletes own celebrity; the majority of the resulting conversations have been about the athletes themselves, not the purpose of the protest. The protest loses its intended purpose as it blends into a sea of countless other endorsements and entanglements associated with each athletes own individual celebrity.

Disingenuous because, whether a fair criticism or not, the protests seem little more than attention grabs by athletes who have fallen from stature and are looking for ways to shine the limelight back on themselves, rather than actually serving as advocates for the downtrodden. Kneeling during an anthem hardly confronts an issue of social injustice in a way that gives it any gravitas; but it is an easy and effective tactic if the goal is to grab a headline for ones self.

Disrespectful in that protesting the national anthem serves no end other than unnecessarily insulting those that might otherwise be moved to the purported reason for the protest through conversation and dialogue; instead this silent form of protesting our national anthem functions to wedge communities further from one anotherover a point of interest that they might not even otherwise disagree.

The stark truth is that very few people can take seriously the idea that individuals who have devoted themselves to such brazen levels self-promotion for profit can morph themselves into selfless advocates for others. Particularly when the chosen form of protest is pathetically disassociated from the intended cause and could potentially thrust a backlash of accused anti-nationalism upon the very people they claim to be advocates for.

We desperately need a conversation on social-justice in our nation; a productive, rational discussion on how to make the United States a place where all feel they can achieve their dreams. And athletes who choose should use their status as celebrities to take a lead in those conversationsbut it requires an actual voice. Rather than a silent defiance toward a symbol of our national cohesiveness, advocacy requires using the benefits of our pluralism to make sure the voices of everyone are heard for the betterment of all.

If one is not willing to take off Beats for a productive conversation, and the chosen form of protest is that of muted disrespect to others that only brings attention back to self, then athletes should expect exactly what their protests have resulted inanger, irritation, and the conversation being shifted to one of national pride.

Social justice is hard, and to achieve it requires picking others up from their kneesnot resting on your own.