The NFL released a statement Wednesday morning that discredited reports that the League would force players to stand during the national anthem and clarified remarks about next week’s NFL owners’ meeting.
On Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump tweeted he was please that NFL commissioner Goodell was “demanding players stand” for the national anthem.
The NFL’s statment added more detail to the letter released by Goodell on Tuesday and revealed that players from around the league would be involved in the owners’ meeting in New York to discuss how to create change.
“Commentary this morning about the Commissioner’s position on the anthem is not accurate. As we said yesterday, there will be a discussion of these issues at the owners meeting next week,” the statement read. “The NFL is doing the hard work of trying to move from protest to progress, working to bring people together.
“Commissioner Goodell spent yesterday with Miami Dolphins players, law-enforcement and community leaders witnessing firsthand the outstanding work for players in clubs are doing to strengthen their communities. Players from all around the league will be in New York next week to meet with owners to continue our work together.”
Goodell's statement released Tuesday detailing the owners' meeting did not reference that players from around the League would be present for the discussion.
The statement did state that Goodell and the owners sided with many fans in the opinion that players should stand respectfully during the national anthem.
“Like many of our fans, we believe everyone should stand for the national anthem,” Goodell wrote. “It is an important moment in our game. We want to honor the flag and our country, and our fans expect out of us.
“We also care deeply About our players and respect their opinions and concerns about social issues. The controversy over the anthem is a barrier to having honest conversations and making real progress on the underlying issues. We need to move past this controversy and we want to do that together with our players.”
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