NAACP: No Goodell meet, we’ll boycott
The NAACP has made it clear: Roger Goodell and the NFL better take them seriously.
A day after the NAACP posted an open letter demanding to meet with Goodell regarding Colin Kaepernick’s ongoing unemployment, Gerald Griggs, VP of the group’s Atlanta chapter, explained that a boycott isn’t an empty threat, according to a Yahoo report.
“If there’s not a meeting before the start of the season, it’s my belief that the coalition will call for a boycott of the NFL,” Griggs said.
While he acknowledged that the commissioner can’t directly force a team to employ Kaepernick, Griggs explained that fans can demand change from their respective NFL organizations.
“We know the commissioner doesn’t have that power,” he said. “But the fan bases that are parts of our organizations do. So at the same time we are demanding a meeting with Roger Goodell, we are also requesting meetings with the team owners in our local markets. And we have a branch in every city where there’s an NFL team . ... Part of the response we heard was that he’s traveling. Well, we can meet him anywhere. Delta flies to most major cities.”
Kaepernick has remained a free agent since hitting the open market in March, his first offseason since protesting during the national anthem a season ago.
In his absence from the league, which opens its season in two weeks, other active players have continued the protest: Marshawn Lynch, Michael Bennett, along with members of both the Eagles and Browns, are among the NFL players to kneel or sit during the anthem so far in the preseason.
But Griggs said it’s ultimately about the larger message.
“It is highlighting the greater issue of racial injustice in this country. That is what this has always been about and will always be about,” he said. “It has sort of shifted because of the actions of the NFL, we believe, preventing Mr. Kaepernick from playing football.
“But we support those players and we would call on more players to send a message to the owners that in this country, at this time, our constitutional rights are more important.”