{"id":109463,"date":"2025-08-01T05:35:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T05:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/109463\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T05:35:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T05:35:12","slug":"nfl-fans-divided-on-troops-national-anthem-before-preseason-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/109463\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL fans divided on troop’s national anthem before preseason opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

By OLIVER SALT<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 20:36 EDT, 31 July 2025 | Updated: 23:54 EDT, 31 July 2025 <\/p>\n

An American troop’s unique rendition of the US national anthem divided opinion before the first NFL preseason game of the year on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Prior to the Los Angeles<\/a> Chargers and Detroit Lions<\/a>‘ meeting in the 2025 Hall of Fame Game, Staff Sergeant Ken Bettinger of the Ohio National Guard sang the Star Spangled Banner to fans at\u00a0Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.<\/p>\n

Yet given he is not a singer by nature, Bettinger’s performance left viewers torn on the night, with some mercilessly criticizing his vocals on social media.<\/p>\n

‘My man just sang the national anthem in like 4 different keys in the Hall Of Fame Game. That\u2019s usually talent, but I think\u2026 not so much this time,’ one user wrote on X.<\/p>\n

Another commented: ‘Love the troops, but damn that was a terrible national anthem’.<\/p>\n

‘This guy singing the national anthem is not a good singer,’ a third brutally concluded.<\/p>\n

While one even claimed: ‘no troll this [is] one of the worst National Anthem\u2019s I\u2019ve ever heard’.<\/p>\n

\"NFL <\/p>\n

NFL fans mercilessly criticized an American troop’s national anthem performance on Thursday<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Star Spangled Banner played out before Thursday’s 2025 Hall of Fame Game in Ohio<\/p>\n

However, others heaped praise on Bettinger for ‘normalizing’ the Star Spangled Banner compared to celebrity singers.<\/p>\n

‘That\u2019s a good national anthem. Normalize having people that live it sing it instead of so called famous people. Let someone who loves their country and truly put there life on line to protect it sing it,’ argued one fan.<\/p>\n

Another put: ‘Outstanding National Anthem!!’<\/p>\n

‘That\u2019s how a man sings the National Anthem!’ posted a third.<\/p>\n

While another said: ‘Bruh sang that National Anthem with his soul’.<\/p>\n

Prior to Bettinger’s rendition of the anthem, the NFL held a moment of silence for victims of Monday night’s mass shooting at its New York City headquarters, which claimed the lives of four people. The gunman was believed to have been targeting the league’s office when he carried out the deadly rampage.<\/p>\n

The Lions kicked off their quest for a first ever Super Bowl title against the Chargers in the Hall of Fame game, which opened the NFL’s preseason schedule.<\/p>\n

Dan Campbell’s men fell way short last season, going one-and-done in the playoffs after having the best regular season in Detroit’s history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Chargers are also coming off a season that ended with a loss in their playoff opener, a wild-card game against Houston. But it was a different vibe in Los Angeles where Jim Harbaugh came in and led a six-win improvement.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions are kicking off the NFL’s 2025 preseason schedule<\/p>\n

And it proved a disappointing night for Detroit, who opened preseason with a bruising 34-7 defeat.<\/p>\n

Expectations are high for both teams but it’s a long road to the Vince Lombardi trophy. It started in the exhibition opener, which took place two days before the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony.<\/p>\n

Football fans across the country celebrated the return of NFL action with the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the fact it was just a preseason match-up, supporters were ready to embrace the return of the sport six months on from Super Bowl LIX.<\/p>\n

Taking to X, one fan wrote: ‘I\u2019m watching this pre season game tonight like it\u2019s the damn Super Bowl! Football is back! #NFL’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another user on the platform wrote: ‘It’s only pre season but we finally have real life football to watch. The NFL season is finally here!’<\/p>\n

‘Wow we made it through the offseason. Another NFL season on the way. Pre season is back tonight,’ a third said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Share or comment on this article:
\n NFL fans divided on troop’s national anthem before preseason opener<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By OLIVER SALT Published: 20:36 EDT, 31 July 2025 | Updated: 23:54 EDT, 31 July 2025 An American…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":109464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[211,9000,1232,1926,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-109463","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sport","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114951889225735854","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}