Players’ voices finally being heard by NFL
Nancy Armour
For years, the only voices and views in the NFL that mattered were those belonging to the owners. Time and again, the NFL made it clear that even when players were given a chance to speak up, they weren’t actually going to be heard.
Oh, they’ve been heard now. Loud and clear.
Commissioner Roger Goodell’s statement Friday night was extraordinary, and not simply because it was a complete reversal of the stance the NFL has doggedly maintained the last four years. It came because some of the league’s most prominent players backed Goodell into a corner, challenging the NFL to specifically call out police brutality and acknowledge that protesting players have been on the side of good all along.
“Not to spoil the ending for you, but the pure-hearted win in the end,” Tyrann Mathieu, one of the players who appeared in the transformative video, said on Twitter on Saturday morning. “Remember that.”
Would the NFL ultimately have come off the sidelines and joined the many organizations and people who are finally recognizing that our society is rigged against minorities because of systemic racism? I don’t know.
With very few exceptions, NFL owners are not an enlightened group. There are many who not only share the views of President Donald Trump but actively support him. When late Houston Texans owner Bob McNair compared players to “inmates” during a meeting with player representatives in 2017, the only real surprise was that he’d dared to say the quiet part out loud.
It’s why Colin Kaepernick remains blackballed. And why, two years ago, Goodell put out a statement lamenting the fact that protests like Kaepernick’s had given the impression that NFL players were unpatriotic, only to paint them that way himself by saying players must “stand and show respect for the flag and the anthem.”
But there is something profound happening in this country right now. It has been almost two weeks since George Floyd was killed, a white officer kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd cried that he couldn’t breathe, and the outrage shows no sign of waning. There have been protests in cities large and small, rural and urban, in all 50 states. Even the NFL can’t ignore that. The players will no longer allow it. “The protests around the country are emblematic of the centuries of silence, inequality and oppression of black players, coaches, fans and staff,” Goodell said in his video Friday night. “We are listening. I am listening, and I will be reaching out to players who have raised their voices and others on how we can improve and go forward for a better and more united NFL family.”
That Kaepernick’s name was not mentioned was not lost on anyone. But what has become clear in the last two days is that the players have more power than they’ve ever had before, and younger players in particular are not afraid to exercise it.
It was incredibly powerful to see Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson and Saquon Barkley, players who’ve emerged as the face of the NFL’s next generation, compare themselves to Floyd and demand that the league do better by him, and them.
Had Drew Brees made his tone-deaf comments about the protests “disrespecting” the flag a month ago, it likely would have prompted some eye rolls, maybe even angry reactions from a few players. But they largely would have gone unnoticed.
Not now. The fierce outrage prompted Brees to apologize – twice – and generated heartfelt and thoughtful statements by black players not only of their own experience, but that of their relatives who also served in the military. And when Trump tried to use Brees as yet another means to divide, the New Orleans Saints quarterback took the extraordinary step of defending his fellow players in a direct response to the president. Given Trump’s penchant of targeting anyone who disagrees with him, this was no small thing.
Should Goodell not follow through on the promise to work for real and visible change, do not expect the players to let it go. Should the owners continue to shun Kaepernick, do not expect players to stay silent. Should the league not improve its abysmal hiring record of minorities as general managers, head coaches and coordinators, do not expect players to tolerate it.
For too long, the only voices and views in the NFL that have mattered have been those of the owners. In a matter of days, that is forever changed.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.