Players, owners seek path toward progress
Meeting focuses on social issues, not anthem protests.
NEWYORK— NFL players and owners met Tuesday to discuss social issues, a session Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross called “constructive” and Colts defensive back Darius Butler termed “positive.”
A group of 11 owners and more than a dozen players met at league headquarters. Among the topics discussed was enhancing the players’ platforms for speaking out on social issues.
“We heard what they had to say and they heard us,” Ross said. “It’s open talks and that’s a good thing.”
Ross said the NFL’s policy on the national anthem “did not come up.” That policy states that the players “should” stand for the anthem, and some have suggested the league would seek to change that to “must” stand. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a memo to the teams last week that the NFL prefers for players to stand during “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Butler, who played Monday night in Nashville before attending the meeting, said both sides are headed in the right direction. He said the players delivered “our perspective. Obviously it’s a different perspective. I think that’s the most important thing when it comes to these issues is perspective and respecting everyone’s rights regardless of how they feel.”
The players’ union and the league issued a joint statement just before the annual fall owners meetings began.
“Today owners and players had a productive meeting focused on how we can work together to promote positive social change and address inequality in our communities,” the statement said. “NFL executives and owners joined NFLPA executives and player leaders to review and discuss plans to utilize our platform to promote equality and effectuate positive change. We agreed that these are common issues and pledged to meet again to continue this work together.”
On hand at the meeting were Goodell and the league’s football operations chief, former player Troy Vincent; and owners Michael Bidwill (Arizona), Arthur Blank (Atlanta), Terry Pegula (Buffalo), Robert McNair (Houston), Shad Khan ( Jacksonville), Ross, Robert Kraft (New England), John Mara (New York Giants), Art Rooney (Pittsburgh), Jeffrey Lurie (Philadelphia) and Jed York (San Francisco).
Representing the players were NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, union president Eric Winston, former player Anquan Boldin, and current players Butler (Indianapolis), Russell Okung (Los Angeles Chargers), Kenny Stills, Julius Thomas and Michael Thomas (Miami), Mark Herzlich (New York Giants), Kelvin Beachum and Demario Davis (New York Jets), Malcolm Jenkins and Chris Long (Philadelphia), Eric Reid (San Francisco) and Josh Norman (Washington).
Jenkins, an Eagles safety, has been one of the leading spokesmen among the players, as well as highly active in the community. He said the discussion was about “everything to do with the state of the NFL now, obviously anthem protests, activism that players have been doing, and how we can move this forward to really amplify players’ voices and amplify these issues and make some long sustainable changes.”
“I’m not sure we’re close to a resolution, but conversations are ongoing,” he added. “We’re looking forward to the opportunity to really put a good plan together.”