Packers will stop using controversial flag during National Anthem

Yet another National Anthem controversy engulfed the NFL this past Sunday. It wasn’t about player protests or anything of that ilk.

Instead, it was all about the Green Bay Packers using an odd American flag-looking banner during the anthem at Lambeau Field prior to their game against the Buffalo Bills.

Fans were thrown for a loop. In no way does this come close to looking like the real American flag. What exactly were the Packers attempting to do here? The Packers attempted to shed some light on it following the game.

“The banner used during Sunday’s pregame ceremony supplemented the three U.S. flags on the roof of the stadium and the flag carried by the color guard on the field,” team spokesperson Aaron Popkey said, via Fox 11 News in Wisconsin. “We’ve used such displays from time to time in the past when other pregame elements take up a significant portion of the field.”

Popkey also noted that the team “will not be using such displays in the future” as a way to avoid any confusion.

In the grand scheme of things, this is a pretty silly controversy. Though, it just goes to show us how much optics matter to NFL teams.