As Colin Kaepernick continues his battle to secure a roster spot on one of the league’s 32 teams, the movement he began more than a year ago has reached a new level of national focus.
Tuesday, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell, 10 NFL franchise owners, including Giants co-owner John Mara, several current players and NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith met in Manhattan to discuss prevalent social issues.
Goodell said the attendees did not deliberate the policy of players standing for the ceremonial pregame presentation of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” during which by initially remaining seated on the sidelines, and then kneeling, Kaepernick became the catalyst for a polarizing national debate fueled by divisive statements from Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, that were marked by racist connotations in the view of many.
“We spent today talking about the issues players are trying to bring attention to,” said Goodell. “Issues in our communities, to make our communities better.”
The meeting took place the week after Kaepernick filed a grievance against NFL owners alleging collusion. He has remained unsigned since opting out of the final year of his contract last March with the San Francisco 49ers. Perhaps Tuesday’s meeting will lead to owners and league and team executives being more sensitive to the concerns that have plagued many of the communities from which a plurality of NFL players come.
Maybe Jacksonville Jaguars President Mark Lamping should spend more time learning about and fighting against police brutality, poverty and a lack of adequate health care in communities of color in Florida than apologizing to the City of Jacksonville’s director of military affairs and local military representatives for Jaguars players’ kneeling during the national anthem before their game in London on Sept. 24 versus the Baltimore Ravens. The players then stood for presentation of Great Britain’s anthem “God Save the Queen.”
“It bears repeating that we were remiss in not fully comprehending the effect of the national anthem demonstration occurring on foreign soil has had on the men and women who have or continue to serve our country,” a letter dated Oct. 6 from Lamping read. “Similarly, we today can better appreciate how standing for ‘God Save the Queen’ may have been viewed negatively by our armed forces here in Jacksonville and beyond… This was an oversight and certainly not intended to send a message that would disparage you, our flag or our nation.”
The most egregious oversight is that the Jaguars organization, like the leaders of the 31 other NFL franchises, fears fan backlash more than it cares about how horrific social ills affect their players. Until they begin to exhibit demonstrable change, dialogue is nothing more than empty talk.