Menu
Sports and Society

History on Kaepernick causes critics to doubt NFL response

Colin Kaepernick, with teammates Eli Harold and Eric Reid, takes a knee in 2016, starting a movement that sparked controversy for the NFL.getty images

In the wake of nationwide protests against police brutality, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and leaders of nearly every NFL team issued statements, though few spoke specifically about what comes next.

 

Five days after Goodell’s statement, the NFL announced it would donate $20 million to causes that address “systemic racism.” 

The road ahead could still be difficult for the league and its 32 teams, as the highly charged, specific demands from many activists run into the cautious nature, political interests and recent history of the NFL.

The NFL’s central role in the protests became undeniable over the course of the week, as protestors adopted free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s “taking a knee” protest gesture en masse. News networks and social media showed scenes of police diffusing tensions by joining the kneeling.

Any attempt to claim solidarity with its workforce — 70% of the league’s players are black and many marched this week and spoke out  — will be doubted because of the Kaepernick story.

Carlos Scott, senior vice president of marketing and corporate partnership at N-Vision Marketing, an Atlanta communications agency that has represented NFL players, said the league’s “words will be taken with a grain of salt, considering the biggest, highest-profile athlete you had was protesting and you guys have ostracized him and pretty much kept him out of the league.”

Prior to the $20 million pledge, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league is in “daily contact with our national social justice partners to listen, understand and generate new ideas” on improving relations with law enforcement.

In 2019, the NFL partnered with Jay-Z and Roc Nation to manage entertainment ventures at league events and to develop social-justice activism efforts. McCarthy did not respond to a question about what role Jay-Z has played in the NFL’s response.

The independent Players Coalition was created in 2017 by co-founders Anquan Boldin and Malcolm Jenkins. The coalition’s statement included action points that are likely to be opposed by police and their political allies: major changes to police union contracts; demands for prosecutors to prioritize police misconduct cases; and an end to qualified immunity, the Supreme Court precedent that makes it difficult to hold cops liable for civil rights violations.

As for individual teams, San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York said the team would “support the legislative priorities” of the coalition, and also donated $1 million to organizations creating those changes. Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti ($1 million), the Seahawks ($500,000) and the Packers ($250,000) and CEO Mark Murphy ($250,000) also pledged donations. Patriots owner Robert Kraft said his family would also contribute $1 million. Saints owner Gayle Benson, Raiders owner Mark Davis and Bears owner George McCaskey all mentioned police misconduct in their statements, rather than generalized racism. 

This challenge comes at a particularly fraught time for sports properties, said Rich Luker, Luker on Trends founder emeritus. Minority groups and young people have borne the worst economic hardships as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and may be the hardest to bring back to spectator sports. Most fans don’t want politics anywhere near the field, he said, so going too far in support of players’ politics risks a backlash.

Luker suggested that the NFL take a back seat for now. One tactic might be to quietly promote individuals’ voices like the league did when its highest-ranking African American, Troy Vincent Sr., executive vice president of football operations, published a long, personal statement on racism and police last Wednesday.

There is one decision, Scott said, that would signal a commitment to change: “The only way for the NFL to have any kind of legitimate stake for people to take them seriously is once Kaepernick gets a job again.”

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2020/06/08/Sports-and-Society/NFL.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2020/06/08/Sports-and-Society/NFL.aspx

CLOSE