Wilson and Stills are two of only three players league-wide still regularly kneeling during the anthemgetty images
NFL owners will "leave the anthem policy unchanged and untouched at least through the conclusion of this season, and perhaps longer," according to sources cited by Mark Maske of the WASHINGTON POST. Owners at their fall meeting this week in N.Y. said that there is "no incentive" for the league to "revisit the issue and potentially reignite the controversy." So far this season, the controversy over protests by players during the anthem "has dissipated." Only three players are "protesting by kneeling" during the playing of the anthem: Panthers S Eric Reid and Dolphins WRs Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson. President Trump's criticisms of the protests have been "less frequent and have not produced the same public outcry as they did previously." One owner called the lack of focus on the anthem at the league meetings "refreshing" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 10/17). In Boston, Ben Volin writes after the league first "issued a strict national anthem policy," it has since "let the issue fizzle out." The NFL's stance on the anthem was "barely a footnote" during the last two days of the owners' meeting. The league and the NFLPA have "met a handful of times over the last two months to discuss what should be done." Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones said that the league has "moved on from the issue" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/18).
IF IT AIN'T BROKE...: YAHOO SPORTS' Charles Robinson wrote with TV ratings "rebounding and fan excitement on the rise again," it is possible owners "decided to take their own knee rather than fight against positive momentum." When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell this week was "pressed for an update" on the anthem policy negotiations with the NFLPA, he "turned the focus away from the rule and toward the social activism the league has tried to engage in with the Players Coalition." Goodell said, "The focus of both the NFLPA and the NFL, the clubs and our players has been [to] focus on the effort of the players on the issues they have raised and how we can make their communities better. They are incredibly passionate about that." Goodell also said the players are "working on issues" such as criminal justice reform. Robinson wrote that was Goodell's way of saying, "We're feeling good about the engagement with players on the social issues they've raised and we aren't about to dive back into that political and public relations mess" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/17).
