National Football League (NFL) commissioner Roger Goodell does not want players to kneel during the national anthem. The league’s top executive revealed as much in a letter to team owners and other senior managers yesterday (October 10).
"We live in a country that can feel very divided," Goodell writes in the memo, which he sent ahead of meetings with NFL team owners next week. "Sports, and especially the NFL, brings people together and lets them set aside those divisions, at least for a few hours. The current dispute over the national anthem is threatening to erode the unifying power of our game, and is now dividing us, and our players, from many fans across the country."
The "dispute" Goodell references started last season, when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started protesting racist policing by kneeling the during the pre-game national anthem. The protests grew from there and reached a peak two weekends ago, when players and executives across the league linked arms and sometimes knelt in opposition to president Donald Trump’s demand that the league fire protesting players. Goodell denounced Trump’s call at the time, but as he suggests in the memo, he believes players can reduce outrage towards their politics by standing during the anthem.
"Like many of our fans, we believe that everyone should stand for the national anthem," he continues. "We want to honor our flag and our country, and our fans expect that of us. We also care deeply about our players and respect their opinions and concerns about critical social issues. The controversy over the anthem is a barrier to having honest conversations and making real progress on the underlying issues. We need to move past this controversy, and we want to do that with our players."
Goodell’s memo also mentions plans to discuss civic engagement on unspecified "core issues" at next week’s meetings. One of those plans—"an in-season platform to promote the work of our players"—sounds reminiscent of the organized month for grassroots activism that the Players Coalition previously recommended.
Read the full memo, as tweeted by NBC News:
JUST IN: In letter to NFL owners, Roger Goodell says: "We believe that everyone should stand for the National Anthem." pic.twitter.com/iveGOQgJnz
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 10, 2017
Many social media users criticized the Goodell for minimizing the protests’ opposition to racial injustice, and prioritizing racist fans’ outrage over Black players’ advocacy. Here are seven tweets that capture the criticism:
You know what? You’re right. Let’s move past it. Lift your "ban" on @Kaepernick7 and we’ll just all act like this never happened. Together. https://t.co/xEPb2AOyTW
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) October 11, 2017
The Roger Goodell NFL letter in a nutshell=
"Hey Black Americans…stop making a fuss about white racism and learn to suffer in silence"— Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) October 10, 2017
Goodell still refusing to say what protests are about. They are about ending police violence and racial injustice. #TakeAKnee
— ColorOfChange.org (@ColorOfChange) October 10, 2017
Roger Goodell’s statement is white supremacy. Changing the policies within the NFL just to silence protest is white supremacy in action.
— Kanani Cortez (@cananikortez) October 11, 2017
Roger Goodell and these racist owners are attempting to silence player’s right to protest for the sake of filthy lucre!!!!
— Bronson Phillips (@aposphillips) October 10, 2017
Racial justice, police brutality, racism, & silencing protest, dissent are grave concerns #rogergoodell @nflpa @nfl @nflcommish #sports pic.twitter.com/MYkpFSKhPd
— Shane (@authenticFNL) October 11, 2017
Roger Goodell sent a letter saying “move past” anthem controversy so are they supposed to ignore racism, social injustices, & brutality
— LC (@CallherLC) October 10, 2017