Last week, the NFL made the decision to implement a new rule that sets the standard for the behavior during the National Anthem that has since received much criticism. It has put into focus the league's stance on the issue making it clear that there is a desire to avoid what they believe to be distractions from kneeling or any other form of silent protest.

The new regulation does leave open the door for players, coaches, or any other team personnel to remain in the locker room during the National Anthem. TMZ Sports recently caught up with former Rams great and Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson to discuss the matter, which he stated that he would have still stood up for the National Anthem had he been playing now.

“You can't please everybody. By saying this, you know somebody's not going to like it. It is what it is. It's like religion and raising your kids. Nobody's going to agree with you all the time.”

“Everybody has a disagreement on how you raise your kids, religion, politics. So my thing is that, I stood when we played. And I would still stand.

It is clear that it is still an ongoing discussion with this new rule in place that adds another wrinkle to it. There will likely be some pushback from the players given that they weren't truly involved in helping come up with a compromise or something that is suitable to both sides.

The option to remain in the locker room could be looked upon as a weak alternative to this situation while there is still some vagueness to the rule in terms of determining what “disrespecting” the flag truly means. This is something that is up for interpretation depending on who is judging what should be deemed just being that.

There will foreseeably be much to come on the topic in the coming months that could potentially see some healthy dialogue to find a better solution.