*By Conor White*
The former NFL star Victor Cruz said the league's new rule requiring players on the field to stand during the national anthem exacerbates an us-against-them dynamic between owners and players.
"It just doesn't make sense to me," Cruz said in an interview Thursday with Cheddar. "I just don't understand why you're retracting a player's right to even protest or do anything that you wanted to do. It just feels like you're continuing the narrative that you're the player, and we're the hierarchy, and you have to listen to us, and pay attention, and do as we say."
The former New York Giants wide receiver vocalized what some current players have said they are feeling.
Last week, the NFL announced it would fine a team an undisclosed amount if any of its players were to kneel during the playing of the national anthem. Players can stay in the locker room during the anthem if they do not want to stand.
In an [interview with ESPN](http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/211882/victor-cruz-youve-got-to-respect-the-flag) in 2016, Cruz had said the American flag needed to be respected, and that he thought players should stand with their teammates during the anthem "regardless of how you feel about things that are going on in America."
Now, the 31 year old said NFL players should be able to express themselves.
"I still stand by those players who are protesting, fighting for a change, or fighting for the right things to be done, not only in the NFL, but across the world," Cruz said.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/victor-cruz-makes-an-impact-off-the-football-field).
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The professional gamer and Twitch streamer told Cheddar CEO Jon Steinberg that it's hard to get fans to follow you from game to game, no matter how big your following. The 31-year-old also championed the "shenanigans" of Fortnite maker Epic Games, which allowed him to ride a rocket launched by fellow esports hero Ninja ー a combination of words that aren't typically uttered in a traditional workplace.
Fintech companies are taking notice of the rapid growth in esports, and Quicken Loans has partnered with 100 Thieves, a League of Legends expansion team. Quicken CMO Casey Hurbis said this venture opened the company's eyes to the endless possibilities of esports and its personalities.
The Twitter Esports Business Summit ran from Oct. 1-3, and it held its focus on the growing market of esports and how Twitter fits into the business. Rishi Chadha, head of gaming content partnerships at Twitter, said the company is focusing on the communities that foster players and fans, as well as publishers and developers of different platforms.
The team became the first in the NBA to introduce GIFs for the Facebook platform. Sandro Gasparro, director of social media for the Los Angeles Clippers, told Cheddar it's not just another way to promote engagement, but can also connect fans to players on a more personal level.
Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL, sat down with Cheddar at this weekend's tournament at the Barclays Center and talked about the esports world and what he believes is needed for the enterprise to grow.
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Ron Darling, a former MLB starting pitcher and current TBS baseball analyst, said the easiest way to attract younger people to baseball is to get more kids playing it when they're kids. Darling said there are more children opting out of football due to concerns about head injuries, and those athletes should be primed to take up a different sport.
