When the NFL announced in May that it had reached a new policy around the national anthem in which players would be forced to stand if on the field, or have the option to remain in the locker room, the debate about players using their platform to highlight racial injustice by police toward African-Americans seemed to move toward a point in which the league had opted to bend toward the will of President Trump who had been repeatedly critical of the players. The owners, and Commissioner Goodell were opting to diffuse Trump and his supporters who feel that the protests as unpatriotic in order to take the negative spotlight off the issue. While there is no definitive evidence, many have seen the decline in television ratings as tied to the anthem protests started by Colin Kaepernick.
The decision did not diffuse Trump’s position on the league as he ripped into the policy and Goodell in early July as part of a rally in Montana.
But the NFL’s attempt at implementing the national anthem policy unraveled on Thursday with one leaked document that by the end of the day put the league’s plans on hold and created a firestorm.
The form was submitted by the Miami Dolphins and within it, it laid out options in which players could be fined or suspended for taking part of protests on the field during the national anthem. How the news broke made it appear as if the Dolphins were implementing policy, and criticism of owner Stephen Ross reached a fevered pitch over the course of the day.
The Dolphins have been the target but they could be part of a larger group.
As part of the NFL’s policy announced in May, if clubs wanted options to implement some form of policy around the national anthem, it had to be submitted to the league before players report to training camp. The Dolphins, along with the New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, Detroit Tigers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Baltimore Ravens all needed to file with the league as those teams are seeing camp start early. It is unclear whether the clubs beyond the Dolphins filed proposals for anthem policies, or not. If the clubs reported to the league that they have no such plans to implement an anthem policy by training camp, they lose the option for the season.
A key point in the story on the Dolphins was that they would seek up to a four-game suspension for players that protest. That has been described as “ludicrous” and that any final details of an anthem policy would not be agreed upon so far ahead of the NFL playing games.
By Thursday night, the negative press and pressure on social media had reached the point in which the NFL and the NFLPA announced that the NFL’s plans for a national anthem policy would be put on hold.
“The NFL and NFLPA, through recent discussions, have been working on a resolution to the anthem issue,” the two said in a joint statement. “In order to allow this constructive dialogue to continue, we have come to a standstill agreement on the NFLPA’s grievance and on the NFL’s anthem policy. No new rules relating to the anthem will be issued or enforced for the next several weeks while these confidential discussions are ongoing.”
The statement added that, “the NFL and NFLPA reflect the great values of America, which are repeatedly demonstrated by the many players doing extraordinary work in communities across our country to promote equality, fairness and justice.”
But it was the closing sentence of the statement by the league and the union for the players that may have the most profound implications. The ability to come to a solution in which the players can use their platform to highlight social injustice without inflaming those that see the protests as unpatriotic will be difficult and not without the specter of the courts hanging over their heads.
“Our shared focus will remain on finding a solution to the anthem issue through mutual, good faith commitments, outside of litigation.”
