"...Monday was a time for unity and healing, something ESPN made clear when it reversed its previous decision not to air the performance of the national anthem.
On Monday, the sports network decided to air the anthem as a way of showing national solidarity in a time of tragedy.
But things went south for ESPN even before the anthem began to play.
With about 15 minutes left, ESPN's pre-game show, Monday Night Countdown, suddenly went dark, experiencing what the ticker repeatedly told the viewers were technical difficulties.A few minutes after 8 p.m. EST, the coverage of the game finally began, the hosts apologizing briefly for the lengthy "difficulties" and then doing their best to act like everything was going as planned.
But when the now utterly politicized performance of The Star-Spangled Banner began, ESPN provided for the audience a look inside the mind of a network panicking (like the NFL) over how to handle the anthem protests, particularly following a national tragedy.
After a moment of silence for those impacted by the horrific actions of the shooter in Vegas, the anthem played.
During its performance, the cameras mainly stayed focused on players and the crowd, all standing united during a time of so much pain, outrage, and shock.
However, the camera did focus for a few moments on one particular player: the Chief's cornerback Marcus Peters, who sat all alone on the bench while everyone else in the stadium (except reportedly fellow teammate Ukeme Uligwe, who was not featured on camera) stood united."
