The NFL was in crisis mode long before the horrific shooting massacre in Las Vegas. Monday Night Football, as aired on ESPN, was desperately trying to avoid any and all issues related to the anthem protests (especially now with sponsors looking for feedback from customers). Initially, the network announced that they wouldn’t even be showing the National Anthem (because if it’s not on video, it never happened, right?). After Las Vegas, they changed their minds, and a moment of silence was added before the anthem. Well, there were apparently technical issues on top of everything else.

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. Instead of pre-game hype and analysis of the big match-up between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Redskins and looks back at key games from the weekend, ESPN viewers watched a host in the studio scramble to fill dead time and quickly introduce some flashback footage of the 2017 Major League Baseball season.

That thematically inappropriate pre-edited segment was then followed by a heartbreaking pre-filmed segment on legendary NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer’s tragic struggle with Alzheimer’s.

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.

And then the moment of silence was observed and the National Anthem was played. I know the quality of this video is terrible, but let’s just say that only amateur video of the broadcast exists right now on YouTube for obvious reasons.

Yes, two Chiefs players decided, on Monday, after the death of 59 people and the wounding of over 500, to plant their rear ends on the bench for the National Anthem.

Marcus Peters and Ukeme Eligwe were sitting during the anthem, though only Peters got a full-on shot on TV of him sitting down. A photographer caught Eligwe seated for the anthem, next to Justin Houston, who was apparently praying. The AP reported that Houston started the anthem in prayer, and then rose to his feet to stand for the rest of it.

Chiefs fans made their voices heard about their displeasure.

and 80,000 "patriotic" #Chiefs fans yell "CHIEEEFFS" …while they boo Marcus Peters.

— Mike Wickett (@mikewickett) October 3, 2017

On a day of tragedy when everyone should come together, Marcus Peters still acts like a piece of shit and sits for the anthem. Smh

— NVP (@Nick_Prav21) October 3, 2017

I have zero respect for @marcuspeters – if you can’t stand for our national anthem after today’s tragedy, you don’t deserve to play.

— Hali Shields (@halishields97) October 3, 2017

Even Kansas City Star sports editor Jeff Rosen said “not tonight.”

Man, can't get behind Marcus Peters and Ukeme Eligwe sitting tonight. No sir. Not tonight. #chiefs

— Jeff Rosen (@jeff_rosen88) October 3, 2017

I've supported the players protesting injustice since day 1. Today, my sadness overwhelms that support.

— Jeff Rosen (@jeff_rosen88) October 3, 2017

And Peters was not exactly a class act during the game, either.

Anyone got vid of Peters supposedly cursing at a fan after giving up another touch?

— Jeff Rosen (@jeff_rosen88) October 3, 2017

Said "f*** you b****" which is ironic because I thought NFL players didn't like that word….

— Kyle Shultz (@ShultzKyle) October 3, 2017

Not a good look #22 pic.twitter.com/fI65aypCTk

— Rodney White (@Rodney1904) October 3, 2017

For real? Fan didn't give it up twice, dude. https://t.co/Hi9gVCpaPk

— Jeff Rosen (@jeff_rosen88) October 3, 2017

Another view of some seriously misplaced frustration. https://t.co/JqaNHXU2vs

— Jeff Rosen (@jeff_rosen88) October 3, 2017

But hey, Peters got the pat on the head from the SJWs, so who cares that he gave up a couple of touchdowns?

Thank you for continuing to #TakeAKnee @marcuspeters! pic.twitter.com/b1OFtXhphw

— ColorOfChange.org (@ColorOfChange) October 3, 2017

After all, heaven forbid that Peters or Eligwe actually decide to honor the nation or the shooting victims properly… you know, people like Jonathan Smith.
https://twitter.com/MediaJuggernaut/status/915032473695870981

Jonathan Smith saved at least 30 lives before he was shot in the neck yesterday in #LasVegas.

This young man is a hero. pic.twitter.com/OLQMvHNhYd

— Khaled Beydoun (@KhaledBeydoun) October 3, 2017

He was shot helping people during the Las Vegas shooting. His heroics helped his photo go viral. https://t.co/ueCmZ2oQ8c

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 3, 2017

From the Washington Post:

Smith, a 30-year-old copy machine repairman, was shot Sunday night while trying to help save people after a gunman opened fire on the crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival in Las Vegas. He knows he’s one of the lucky ones to be able to walk out of the hospital, even with his severe injuries.

As the bullets rained down, family was Smith’s top concern. He had driven to Las Vegas from Orange County, Calif., on Thursday to celebrate the 43rd birthday of his brother, Louis Rust, a big country music fan who had attended the festival in the past. They spent the weekend enjoying the music and had scored seats close to the stage for Jason Aldean’s prime-time performance Sunday night.

When the gunshots started, Smith initially thought they were fireworks. The music kept playing, Smith and Rust recalled. But the bullets kept coming. Aldean looked at his security guards and ran off the stage. Then the lights went out.

Smith was focused on saving his nieces — 22, 18 and 17 years old — but they separated in the crowd. He says he turned back toward the stage to look for them, he saw people hunched behind a sheriff patrol car at the northwest edge of the concert lawn. Others were so frightened they didn’t know what to do. He kept shouting, “Active shooter, active shooter, let’s go! We have to run.”

He grabbed people and told them to follow him toward a handicapped parking area in the direction of the airport, away from Las Vegas Boulevard. It was a large field with several rows of vehicles. Smith and the others crouched down behind one of the last rows of cars.

“I got a few people out of there,” Smith said. “You could hear the shots. It sounded like it was coming from all over Las Vegas Boulevard.”

A few young girls weren’t fully hidden. He stood up and moved toward them to urge them to get on the ground. That’s when a bullet struck him in the neck.

“I couldn’t feel anything in my neck. There was a warm sensation in my arm,” said Smith from the Sunrise Hospital lobby Monday afternoon as he was waiting for his final discharge. He has a fractured collarbone, a cracked rib and a bruised lung. The doctors are leaving the bullet in his neck for now. They worry moving it might cause more damage.

Hey, Marcus Peters and Ukeme Eligwe – here’s a role model for you. Stand to honor him. Stand and be thankful that we live in a country that has men like Jonathan Smith.