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“The email from Jon Gruden denigrating DeMaurice Smith is appalling, abhorrent and wholly contrary to the NFL’s values,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. “We condemn the statement and regret any harm that its publication may inflict on Mr. Smith or anyone else.” “NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that he wishes 'we had listened earlier' to what Colin Kaepernick was trying to bring attention to when he began kneeling for the national anthem in 2016. In an interview with Mike Greenberg for ESPN's The Return of Sports special in June, Goodell said he supports and encourages teams to sign Kaepernick," reported...

The NFL announced plans to perform or play the black national anthem, before games during the beginning of this year's season, ESPN reports. 'Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing,' traditionally referred to as the black national anthem, will be performed before 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' during the season opener on September 10, when the Kansas City Chiefs host the Houston Texans. The NFL, in collaboration with the NFL Players Association, is also considering featuring names of victims who suffered police brutality on uniforms, helmets or patches on jerseys.

Twitter erupted Monday with accusations of white privilege and racism as leftists went on the attack after Tim Tebow was reportedly set for another shot at playing in the NFL even as national anthem protester Colin Kaepernick still sits on the sidelines.News broke on Monday that the Jacksonville Jaguars are expected to sign former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL and MBA layer Tim Tebow to a one-year contract:The #Jaguars are planning to sign QB-turned-TE Tim Tebow to a 1-year deal, per me and @TomPelissero, a deal that could be official in the next week or so. Nothing done yet. But...

Super Bowl 55 kicked off Sunday with recording artist Alicia Keys singing the so-called black national anthem, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” along with a poem. Hitmaker Alicia Keys was tasked with a virtual performance of the 121-year-old spiritual song that has come to be known alternately as the “black national anthem” after being introduced in 1899 for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. The poem read in 1899 was set to music in 1900.

For decades, we’ve been trained to believe that live sporting events must be broadcast a certain way. Namely, that they should be called and analyzed by an overwhelmingly white, almost exclusively male cadre of voices. They’re mostly measured, but they dutifully get excited at the “proper” moments. Into this fray has stepped someone who doesn’t look or sound like pretty much anyone else in sports broadcasting booths: Aqib Talib. Talib has been in the booth for two Fox games this season. I covered Talib while he was with the New England Patriots and he was unlike any player who passed...

In the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in May, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell vowed that the league would help address “systemic issues” and later offered an apology to former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began kneeling at gamers during the anthem in 2016 but failed to sign with a team in ensuing seasons. But the league must take further steps to address the “nepotism and cronyism” that preserves overwhelmingly white and male leadership at its 32 franchises, said Fox Sports host and former linebacker Emmanuel Acho.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – When the Carolina Panthers opened their 2020 season on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium, they did so without a popular radio analyst helping to call the action from above the field. Why didn’t Luis Moreno Jr. return to the booth to start his second decade on the job? How is it that one half of the Spanish-language broadcast duo that sang and danced (and screamed) its way into the hearts of thousands of Panthers fans during the run to the 2015 Super Bowl is still there, but the other is not? Moreno Jr. says the answer...

by Ron Kersten The Sunday Night Football clash between the Rams and the Cowboys was supposed to halt the ratings crash the NFL has experienced so far in the 2020 season. Instead, it was a complete disaster -- nearly equaling the devastating ratings crash the NBA playoffs suffered after embracing the Marxist BLM movement. According to DEADLINE Hollywood, ratings for NBC’s only weekly NFL game, were down a shocking 28%. Putting on the two teams with big national followings, SNF snared a 4.7 in early ratings among adults 18-49 and 14.81 million viewers last night. In numbers certain to change, that’s a fall...

The USA Today sports section never misses an opportunity to bash President Donald Trump, and former Green Bay and Seattle Coach Mike Holmgren gave the newspaper another opportunity to do that Saturday. The retired coach appeared in a virtual Green Bay press conference to announce his support for Joe Biden and accuse Trump of malfeasance in his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Holmgren (in photo) and Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich, a Democrat, "both said Trump took a dishonest, disorganized approach to managing the virus that killed more than 190,000 people in the United States," according to the story written...

On Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens all but two players stood during the “black national anthem,” but most either took a knee or sat down as the American national anthem was played. As the Ravens faced the Cleveland Browns in the season opener, all but two of the Ravens proudly stood as “Life Every Voice and Sing” rang out over the stadium’s public address system. Ahead of the song, the Ravens lined up at the goal line as a show of support. As the “black national anthem” played, Ravens players Marlon Humphrey and Matthew Judon took a knee, according to Baltimore...

Colts linebacker and team captain Darius Leonard has confirmed that the entire team will make what he calls a “bold statement” during the national anthem on Sunday, as the NFL launches its first full weekend of action. “We decided we’re going to make a bold statement, and we’re going to show unity as a team,” Leonard said, according to Stephen Holder of TheAthletic.com. The Colts have had mixed reactions to protests during the anthem among the players. In the past, the Colts linked arms while at other times, individual players have taken a knee during the anthem.

The Minnesota Vikings plan to honor George Floyd’s family during the season opener Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. The team revealed the plans in a press release Friday.

As the NFL prepares to raise the curtain on a season that promises to be unprecedented in so many ways, a new Washington Post poll reveals some striking changes on Americans’ attitudes about players’ rights to protest and speak out on social issues. A majority of Americans, 56 percent, now believe it is appropriate for athletes to kneel during the national anthem as a form of protest; while 42 percent disagree. An even larger majority, 62 percent, believes athletes have the right to express themselves on social and national issues.

When the Bengals start the 2020 season with a home game against the Chargers, the Bengals may be starting the game with a powerful statement. Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Bengals are considering whether to stay in the locker room or to collectively kneel during the national anthem. Dragon’s report is based on multiple unnamed sources, reflecting internal discussions among the players.

For the first time since 2016, Colin Kaepernick is back in EA Sports’ Madden NFL series. EA lost the rights to Kaepernick’s likeness when he lost his job in the NFL, but after negotiating with him individually, gamers can once again play as Kaepernick in the popular video game series. The Undefeated’s Aaron Dodson reports that Kaepernick took a “hands on” approach to his inclusion in the game, lobbying for his digital avatar to have an Afro (as opposed to the cornrows he had in Madden 17) and to use the Black Power fist as a touchdown celebration, as he...

Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford said Thursday the team has been given the "green light” to protest during the national anthem during the season. Crawford told reporters the team is really hoping to make a statement, according to the Dallas Morning-News. “We definitely [have] the green light on all that, but also just trying to find something that's going to make a boom. It's not just going to be something that people look at it one time and kind of swipe by it, they're like, 'Oh that's great. The Cowboys did that' and swipe by it,” Crawford said.

It was reported last week that the NFL would allow social justice messaging on their helmets. Now, we learn that the NFL will put social justice messaging in the end zones as well. On a Tuesday afternoon conference call, Commissioner Roger Goodell said that the league will write “End Racism” “It Takes All of Us,” in the end zones this season. “The NFL stands with the black community, the players, clubs and fans confronting systemic racism. We will not relent in our work,” Goodell said. The NFL made headlines last week when several teams canceled or postponed practices amid the...

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, players may display the names of victims of police violence and/or systemic racism on the padding along the bottom of the backs of their helmets. It’s a full-season endeavor, and an important tangible effort by the NFL to allow the uniform to carry clear messages of social justice.

Packers CEO Mark Murphy issued a lengthy statement on Saturday, saying that one of the “keys” in the fight for social justice was for “white people” in “positions of power,” to get more involved in making a “difference.” The statement comes amid ongoing protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and nationwide, after the officer-involved shooting of Jacob Blake last week. Kenosha is just over 150 miles south of Green Bay. Murphy wrote: Racially motivated events over the last couple months have had an impact on our entire organization, particularly the horrific shooting of Jacob Blake. I met with our players and coaches...

Former Jets coach Pete Carroll — now head coach for the Seattle Seahawks — got political on Saturday, delivering an impassioned plea against racism. Carroll, 68, called on other coaches to use their platforms to speak out against social justice and stressed the need to vote in November and for white people to finally listen to the people of color around them. “This is about racism in America that white people don’t know,” the Super Bowl-winning coach said during a nearly 15-minute monologue.