NFL owners are expected to "discuss the sport’s national anthem policy at the annual league meeting later this month in Florida," and some of them "regard all options -- from leaving the current rules unchanged to enacting a requirement that players stand for the anthem -- open for consideration," according to sources cited by Mark Maske of the WASHINGTON POST. There is "sentiment among some owners for reverting to the NFL’s previous approach of keeping players in the locker rooms before games until after the anthem is played." A resolution to the matter during the upcoming meeting, scheduled to begin March 25 in Orlando, is "not considered likely." Instead, sources said that the owners probably will "continue their discussions and aim for a potential resolution when they meet in May in Atlanta." It is "not clear which set of procedures the greatest number of owners favor." One source said that there "might be more sentiment for an NBA-style rule requiring players to stand for the anthem than for a provision to keep players in the locker room until after the anthem," as the NFL did before the '09 season (WASHINGTON POST, 3/8).
