Jeering at NFL season opener

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

LOS ANGELES: The National Football League season kicked off under a cloud yesterday after fans jeered during a moment of silence for social justice ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs’ game against the Houston Texans.

The Super Bowl champion Chiefs allowed fewer than 17,000 fans inside their 75,000seat Arrowhead Stadium and required spectators to wear masks and stay socially distant during the game due to the Covid19 pandemic.

A section of supporters jeered loudly as players from both teams linked arms before kickoff for what the league had described as ‘‘a moment of silence dedicated to the ongoing fight for equality in our country’’.

The league has left it up to the 32 teams and local officials to decide if it is safe to allow spectators into their stadiums with coronavirus outbreaks flaring in much of the country, where it has claimed more than 190,000 lives.

As the season starts, six teams have said they will have fans in the stands including the Dallas Cowboys. Others like the Chicago Bears and Las Vegas Raiders have shuttered stadiums for the entire season.

Before the moment of silence, the visiting Texans left the field during the playing of Lift Every Voice and Sing, often called the Black national anthem, and the

StarSpangled Banner.

The Texans said they did not want to choose between celebrating one song and ‘‘throwing shade’’ on the other so decided to return to their locker room.

The Chiefs remained on the field for both songs with the players locking arms.

Only Chiefs linebacker Alex Okafor took a knee during the

StarSpangled Banner.

The Chiefs beat the Texans 3420 in the game, which was the first since the Chiefs won the championship 221 days ago as there was no preseason. — Reuters