SI.com's Jenny Vrentas wondered in regard to social justice movements, "How far are team owners willing to go to support their players?" Vrentas: "More broadly, can the owners and the league keep up, not just with where players are headed, but with the country?" ESPN's Domonique Foxworth said, "(Team owners) are very pragmatic when it comes to money. And it seems to me that they want to make the decision that hurts their money the least. Being perceived as anti-players in this moment would hurt them more than anything else." Vrentas noted "key will be how many" owners "recognize that," particularly the Cowboys' Jerry Jones, Giants' John Mara and Patriots' Robert Kraft (SI.com, 9/4). SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL's Abe Madkour writes this new “equilibrium” in sports "has some owners uncomfortable." Many will "understand this period of time, embrace it and be change agents," but others "may not be up to it" (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/7 issue).
CARETAKER: In Philadelphia, Mike Sielski wrote Eagles Owner Jeffrey Lurie "often fancies himself a thought leader because he is a wealthy man, and he reflected on the sociopolitical goings-on of the last six months as if the Philadelphia football press corps had been waiting for nothing else, for all that time, but to hear what he had to say." But Lurie has "more latitude" than in the past, since he has made the Eagles a "more modern and competitive NFL franchise." The football is "what matters most, still, even if Jeffrey Lurie didn't and won't admit it" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/7).
REACHING A GOAL: CBSSPORTS.com's Jason La Canfora wrote on how players have handled the COVID-19 pandemic, "Do not for one minute discount the role that positive peer pressure, and player leadership and mentoring and stewardship have played." It has been "paramount and league-wide," and "frankly, staggering." As the season starts, La Canfora "wouldn't anticipate a drastic shift in player behaviors." He wrote, "Kudos to all involved for reaching Week 1 in such an overwhelmingly healthy fashion, and allowing this season to kick off as planned" (CBSSPORTS.com, 9/7).
