The NFL on Thursday pledged to commit $250MM over a 10-year period to help fight systemic racism, Judy Battista of NFL.com reports.
This comes years after the league launched a program to address police brutality in communities. The initial pledge came after numerous players began following Colin Kaepernick‘s lead and waging pregame protests against police brutality and systemic racism. With nationwide protests continuing since George Floyd’s death last month in Minneapolis — several of which involving NFL players — this issue has become a central league matter.
Kaepernick has been at the forefront of this movement since he began taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem in 2016. The former 49ers quarterback has not played since that season and has only made one visit over the past four offseasons. Kaepernick since filed a grievance with the league, which he settled last year, and made an 11th-hour change to his NFL-organized 2019 workout in Atlanta.
Despite this, a person familiar with the NFL’s program said the league would be open to working with Kaepernick on social justice initiatives.
“We wouldn’t be where we are today without the work Colin and other players have led off,” the person told Battista. “That is a key point here. We listened to our players. We needed to listen more; we needed to move faster. We heard them and launched a social justice platform because of what Colin was protesting about. The players have always been an essential piece of this effort and this campaign.
“It would be awesome to engage Colin on some of the work we are doing. He’s doing real impactful work. Getting him in some way would be amazing for us. There’s a lot of work to do to get to that point. We’re certainly open and willing to do that.”
Considering the acrimony between the NFL and Kaepernick, it obviously would be notable if the sides ever worked together again. Now 32, Kaepernick has reportedly continued to train in hopes of receiving a chance to return to the league.
Nice censorship NFLTR
Eye roll
There’s no systemic racism. How did Barack Obama become President because millions of whites people voted for him
And millions of blacks who had never voted in their lives. Oh and don’t forget all the votes from dead people that got to him
lol ur so right man the Dems clearly stole that election, there’s no way the country would vote for an intellectual like Barry O when clearly all we want is dumdum reality show stars to lead our country
Trump is way more educated and has done way more than Obama ever did for blacks
Dude, your level of ignorance is off the scales
Lmao educated and Barry O in same sentence
Seriously every single one of his projects failed miserably including Obamacare
He tried tho . He did his best. Hes just a moron tho
Brilliant analysis. Obama was black and president therefore racism is dead. You seem to be forgetting the millions of white people that voted against him. Idiot
He wasn’t voted against because he was black, he was voted against because people didn’t agree with what he believed in. You thinking that is racist.
Some people did vote against him for being black. I know some personally. If you don’t know that you’re a literal moron.
And I am sure some black people voted for him only because he was black so is that racist? If someone disagrees with a black person that does not make them racist.
Your from Maryland keep voting in the Dems. How’s your filthy city doing?
Maryland has a republican governor….
Maryland is consistently a top 5 state for healthcare and education thanks to democrats. And I’m proud to be from Baltimore. Our city has made significant strides. We would be doing better if amoral conservatives such as yourself would fully fund education, commit to reforming our criminal justice system, and make healthcare a human right. You don’t get to ignore my city and then call dirty because of that same ignorance.
Oh, is that why people are flocking to live in Baltimore these days? It’s pretty much filthy, and dangerous whether living there or just visiting!
Right and democrats are trying to fix that. Your tweeter in chief isn’t because he doesn’t care. Either be part of the solution or stfu.
Follow the comments…that’ll answer your stupid assertion.
You say there’s no systemic racism, then drop a litany of racist remarks in a comment below. If you’re a troll trying to make people who claim there’s no systemic racism look stupid, you’re doing an amazing job.
The difference is Dums think its systemic.
When it’s truly pragmatic
Learn these words.
THANK YOU!
Not sure how I feel about this; I am sick of seeing cops kill black men however I’m tired of seeing cops kill white Arab and Asian men, too.
I’m all for equal opportunity and the truth that all men and women are absolutely equal, but the problem is our police fire feel they are our superiors in situations where they are not.
The notion that “all men are created equal” has been one of america’s longest running bullshit stories
I agree that the all men are created equal is BS, especially when you factor in the Patriots and their fans.
Boston fans (not all) have been called on their racist stuff plenty of times. Recent article from the great Torii Hunter. Adam Jones from the Orioles, the list goes on
The great Bill Russell who won titles there with the Celtics was quoted in a book, saying Boston a “flea market of racism”
Good article on Time’s website by Sean Gregory a few years back is worth a read
I always felt like a good comparison is relating Boston to New York City the same way northern Florida is to Miami. Sure they are close but the difference is stark. As were one is a melting pot of society with beautiful people and cultures while the other has trailers that get crushed by hurricanes. Or for Boston trailers that get crushed by snow and 400 pound women.
Anyone upset that the NFL has moved as fast as they can to implement Colin Kaepernick’s full agenda to the tune of $250 million is free to not watch.
Nascar is always there for you. Oh wait…they banned the Confederate flag so you are boycotting them now, too.
Golf is always there for you. Oh wait…Tiger is back. Darn.
Curling is always there for you. Enjoy.
At least you’re not prattling on about Antonio Brown’s chest for a change. I’m sure you’re fascinated by other appendages as well
The chest is not an appendage. Just FYI.
Wasn’t talking about the chest, genius.
English. Learn it sometime.
“At least you’re not prattling on about Antonio Brown’s chest for a change. I’m sure you’re fascinated by other appendages as well.”
Let’s key in on the word “other”.
When you use the word “other” as you did, it has to refer back to something. There are only two objects in your previous comments that it could refer back to, either “chest” or “Antonio Brown”.
Now, one could certainly argue that Antonio Brown is an appendage, but it’s doubtful that that is what you meant.
So, the only “other” appendage possible is “chest”.
Furthermore, you reinforced the use of “other” by adding an “as well” on top of it.
So…in reality…you either…
A) thought the chest was an appendage, which is why you referred to “OTHER appendages AS WELL”.
B) don’t understand English and I believe people who don’t speak English are supposed to “git out”.
C) you yourself are fascinated by appendages and your subconscious crow barred it in as a non sequitur and cry for help.
Oh man. You’re so butthurt it’s funny.
That is the best you can come up with? Pretty weak
True or false, the butt is an appendage.
Hate much?
I see you guys running out of refuges, so I was just trying to be helpful.
i really dont want to get too controversial here, but i really do think there is a problem with the way working towards quelling racism goes. Its hard to argue that the 1st wave civil rights movement accomplished most of it’s goals. Society is integrated in theory and truely racist laws are gone. there may be some de facto situations of these two that still exist, but mostly that’s been solved. what is ongoing is 2nd wave civil rights, which is hearts and minds. many strides have been made to sway people into believing in racial equality, though this is where most of the remaining strides must be taken in. I just simply dont think dumping money into the problem is the way to fix it. you dont need money to put police discipline under greater scrutiny, and a lot of these big civil rights agencies do good for minorities, but some get a bit too big for their britches and start targeting things they shouldn’t. (see Marcy’s Law and how the NAACP views it) what im saying is, while donating to racial equality funds is a nice gesture, i dont believe it is a very effective way to achieve real change. community outreach – which many NFL players do – speaks louder than simple monitary donations by a company whose main goal, lets face it, is to improve its PR.
You say we need more police discipline, I agree. I think plenty of LE bosses would like to get rid of problem officers, but it’s very difficult with the strength of their unions.
yeah, in reality theyre the ones that deserve the heat rather then the departments. that being said, i dont see a lot of these offices putting out statements saying that they were pushing the unions hard to reprimand or let go of the officers as well. certainly not all on these departments, but i still think they are a bit culpable.
The problem is police unions have too much power, not only to protect their members but to extort the cities and citizens they are supposed to work for. If they disagree with actions or reforms being taken by the bodies they work for, they will threaten overtly and covertly to not do their jobs
They should just give the $250 mill to Kaepernick, he deserves it and is frankly owed it.
Eddie1 u nailed it if a black wants to be successful he cld.stop with this bullshit u libs u all got drawn into this crap they cld get into college and everything else like Eddie said use the 250 million for condoms give them to the hood in Newark,Trenton,Baltimore,Detroit and the list goes on seriously it’s obv
And when one gets killed by a cop everyone starts crying u blacks don’t care abt him or u white libs let’s get the hood destroyed and GET THEM FATHERS!!!!
Grow up. Nobody here wants to listen to your racist agenda. Your abhorrent comments warrant a lifetime ban. This isn’t a KKK rally, it’s a site about football. If you can’t keep your comments relevant and appropriate, perhaps you’d be best served complaining on Facebook with the rest of the xenophobes
It’s not the kkk I just like ppl tht TRY to make lives for themselves tht is y I respect colored ppl tht do I do t hate them I like Jewish ppl most of them are very successful and don’t make crime ridden neighborhoods FACTS!
It’s just tht blacks are the ones tht a lot of times don’t make lives for themselves and get their heads kicked by the police for good reason
Dude. Go f#ck yourself.
Just curious, if someone called you a racist, would you say…
A) “How dare you!”
or
B) “You got that right!”
Did yours abuse you? Is that why you are so angry?
For good reason? You’re pathetic
The NFL should be giving that money to Space X to get Goodell a one way trip into the final frontier.
Full disclosure, I’m a white republican raised in a middle class household in Texas.
I don’t see how anybody could look at society and think that there isn’t systemic racism or discrimination against minorities and blacks, in particular. All of this nonsense about “there’s no way there’s racism, the US had a black president” is ridiculous. Black people are consistently viewed as a threat by most white people, just because of stigmas like “they fill the jails” and all the other crap that the racists on this thread have said. They don’t have the opportunities that white people do, as kids or in the business world, because of the color of their skin. What everybody needs to do is sit down and do a real analysis of the perspective that somebody else has, their experiences, and where they come from, instead of taking some views that their great grandparents had, and using them to formulate a hardline opinion to have a stance against somebody that’s different than you.
At this point, if someone doesn’t see the problem, it’s because they don’t see it as a problem.
It seems we do the same thing as Americans every time we discuss issues and what steps to take to resolve them. We insult each other when one has an opinion that is opposite of ours rather then allow that person to express themselves. Are there racist people in the US? Of course. Are there people who use minorities to benefit their own agendas? Absolutely. If a person refuses to acknowledge racism why argue with them? They are not worth the effort. The effort should go toward finding real solutions. Handing things to people who have been oppressed is not the answer either. Unless, that is, you hand them the opportunities they need to experience the America most of us take for granted daily.
Richard Dangler, I say that u got it just right, u make ur own way in life. The door is wide open to success if u TRY, and just one more thing if black America can’t see that the Democratic socialist party is using for yrs, do u think over the past 50 yrs in Dem cities blacks haven’t succeeded is because their give anything free so I grow dependent on them . They have used , pnease think about it and u will see it’s true.put on ur big boy pants , get a decent education and a nice job and u won’t see racism. Their will always be racism but it will be less when the job is their to have a better life
Before I say anything about whether this is good or not, I’d like to see what they mean by “initiatives to fight systemic racism”. Meaning, what exactly are these measures going do?
A lot of good was done by many players who followed in Kaepernick’s lead, but on the other hand, a lot of Kaepernick personally has said in his social work has been racist in and of itself. So I’d to see which initiatives they are actually looking to support here.