As the world inches towards change, the NFL is also making incremental steps towards listening to the demands of its players.
As first reported by Front Office Sports and later confirmed by CBS Sports, the players will likely be invited to wear helmet decals with the names or initials of police violence victims and those impacted by systematic racism.
Last month, several prominent NFL players, including the Cowboys Ezekiel Elliott, released a video as a message to the league to take the issue of systematic racism seriously.
“On behalf of the National Football League, this is what we, the players, would like to hear you state: “We, the National Football League, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of black people,” they said. “We, the National Football League, admit wrong in silencing our players from peacefully protesting. We, the National Football League, believe Black Lives Matter.”
The NFL responded by committing to donating $250 million over a 10-year period, the equivalent of one minimum-salary player contract per team, to combat systematic racism and the battle against injustices faced by African Americans.
Now, the league has taken it a step further.
In addition to playing the Black National Anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” prior to the Star-Spangled Banner at every Week 1 game, the NFL also recognized Juneteenth as a holiday and pledged to reach out to players who spoke on the issue of racial inequality.
It appears that the player’s voices are being taken seriously, which is all they wanted in the first place.
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