'Boycott the NFL': Small business owner flies banner over Jaguars game

Small business owner Terry Smiley is urging football fans to quit watching the NFL, and he even hired a pilot to fly his message over a Jacksonville Jaguars game.

Smiley paid to have a banner flown over EverBank Field for nearly two hours during the Jaguars’ game against Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. The Florida resident says fans should boycott the NFL as long as players continue to kneel during the national anthem. The banner read, “Be American. Boycott the Jags & the NFL.”

In an interview on FOX Business, Smiley said he was “disgusted” when Jaguars players protested during the anthem before a game in London but stood for “God Save the Queen.”

“I think something could have been done early about [the protests]. It wasn’t, and now it’s an epidemic,” Smiley told Elizabeth MacDonald on “Risk & Reward.” “If they’re going to continue to protest, I’m going to continue to protest.”

Smiley said fans should change the channel on their TVs or avoid restaurants that show NFL games.

His banner will fly again on Nov. 12, when the Jaguars host the Los Angeles Chargers. Fans on social media are also calling for NFL boycotts on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

“I’m representing thousands of people, and I guarantee you half the football players feel the same way I do. You see the football players standing. They’re probably tired of it, too,” Smiley said. “I want to be able to come home, kick back, drink a beer and watch football. But I won’t be watching football until this is taken care of.”