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New Jersey Bar Boycotts NFL For Veterans Day

FARMINGDALE, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A New Jersey bar is not showing any NFL games over the Veterans Day weekend and will raise money for a local veterans' charity instead.

Customer and Army veteran Andy Barcellona asked the owners of Woody's Roadside Tavern in Farmingdale to sacrifice Sunday football.

Barcellona told News 12 New Jersey the idea grew as NFL players chose to kneel during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality.

"We had considered taking a stand against the NFL players and their practice of disrespecting the flag and after some consideration we decided that it was much more important to support our veterans," co-owner Rob Johnson told 1010 WINS. "We have a very close relationship with Special Forces Chapter 19 and we just kind of felt like it was a good fit for us to kind of take a stand for them."

Woody's owner Chris Maltese told News 12 it was an easy decision and the right thing to do.

"Tried and true football fans, the guys who come in week after week with their Jaguar jerseys on and their Steelers jerseys on, they've even said, 'Hey, we're going to come out and support your event because it's a much bigger picture than just some football game,'" Johnson said. "They realize how important our veterans and our Armed Forces are to our everyday way of life."

Twenty percent of the tavern's food sales will be donated to the Green Beret Foundation to help veterans.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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