Updated: August 14, 2025
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Almost two years after former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began his protest of police brutality during the playing of the national anthem, the NFL is still busy trying to punish black players for doing the same thing. Instead of worrying about its declining viewership or their problematic past relationship with the racist founder of Papa Johns pizza, the leagues executives and franchise owners want to make it as difficult as possible for players to speak out against an issue that disproportionately impacts black and brown people thereby impacting the same demographic group that comprises the majority of their players.
Anthem protests in sports have a long history, with notable instances like Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists at the 1968 Olympics. Athletes have used these powerful moments to highlight social and racial injustices, making the field not just a place for competition, but also for change.
By kneeling during games, players like Kaepernick continued this tradition, bringing attention to current issues and sparking national conversations that transcend sports.
Addressing social issues isnt foreign to the NFL. In the past, the leaguehaspreviously worked to bring awareness to issuesof domestic violence and sexual assault. Butthey seem to have a very big problem with their playersexercising theirright to free speech and protest to bring attention to racial inequality. The message from the almost exclusively white malehead honchos(and a number of their fans) is loud and clear: shut up,black menand simply throw the ball.
Two months ago, the league developed an anthem rule which forbid players from taking a knee or sitting if they are on the field while the national anthem is playing. They took this rule even further to say that any teams with players that do not stand for the anthem will be fined. The great irony here is that anyone who has actually been paying attention for the last two years should know that this is not a protest of the anthem. Not a single player choosing to take a knee is protesting Americas official national song (though there's plenty there to take issue with).
Instead, it is a moment they are using to bring awareness to the fact that our country is not, despite all its claims, treating all its citizens fairly particularly with regard to race. Moreover, it wasnt until 2009 that NFL players were even on the field during the playing of the anthem for primetime games (though they were for day games). So this tradition that certain folks are using as an excuse to justify their racist need to control black NFL players wasnt even always a thing,and there certainly werent rules prohibiting taking a knee.
That is, until Donald Trump came along.
