Roger Goodell Admits NFL Kneeling Protest Is Not About the Flag

From Men's Health

• NFL commissioner Roger Goodell appeared on the latest episode of former NFL player Emmanuel Acho's video series, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.

• In the video, he revealed what his apology to Colin Kaepernick would be, and pointed out once and for all that the NFL player's kneeling protest was never about the flag.

• "These are not people who are unpatriotic. They're not disloyal. They're not against our military," he said.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is continuing to explain how his worldview has evolved with regards to the player protests during the National Anthem, and the man who started it, Colin Kaepernick. Coming up on four years since Kaepernick first took a knee in 2016, Goodell is carefully wording what he would say to the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback if he were to issue an apology (and yes, the wording is this carefully chosen).

"The first thing I'd say is I wish we had listened earlier, Kaep, to what you were kneeling about and what you were trying to bring attention to," Goodell told former NFL player Emmanuel Acho in the latest episode of his video series Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. "We had invited him in several times to have the conversation, to have the dialogue. I wish we had the benefit of that. We never did. We would have benefitted from that—absolutely."

Acho, at this point, intervened, saying that he often felt frustrated, wanting to say "it's not about the flag," a point that Goodell agreed with him about, saying that the misrepresentation of who those players were really "gnawed at".

"It is not about the flag," the commissioner said. "The message here that what our players are doing is being mischaracterized. These are not people who are unpatriotic. They're not disloyal. They're not against our military. In fact, many of those guys were in the military, and they're a military family."

Acho's Uncomfortable Conversations series has previously featured Matthew McConaughey, Chip and Joanna Gaines, and others. Before the conversation reached the topic of Kaepernick and the National Anthem kneeling protest, Goodell said that he's "very comfortable talking about race," and discussed growing up in the '60s amidst the Vietnam war and civil rights protests (his father marched alongside Coretta Scott King during the Vietnam War Rally).

Goodell was also asked what he's learned in the last few months particularly, specifically in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder.

"It was horrific to see that play out on the screen," he said. "There was a part of me that said 'I hope people realize that's what they players were protesting.' And that's what's been going on in our communities. You see it now on television, but that's been going on for a long, long, time. And that's where we should have listened sooner. And we should have been in there, with them, understanding it and figuring out what we can do as the NFL."

The comments in the conversation with Acho are consistent with a statement and video Goodell and the NFL released back in June, where he expressed condolences to victims of police brutality and condemned racism and the systematic oppression of Black people. In this same video, he also admitted that the NFL was wrong and should have listened to its players earlier, and said explicitly "Black Lives Matter."

"I personally protest with you, and want to be part of the much needed change in this country," Goodell said.

The NFL's first game, between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans, will be on Thursday, September 10th.

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