NFL Exec Says League’s ‘Social Justice Work’ Is ‘Ramping Up Again In A Big Way’

The National Football League confirmed this week that it would continue to showcase political statements on the field as the 2021 regular season is set to kick off Thursday, September 9, when the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Dallas Cowboys.

The Associated Press reports, “NFL players can wear social justice messages on their helmets again this season and ‘It Takes All of Us’ and ‘End Racism’ will be stenciled in end zones for the second straight year as part of the league’s Inspire Change platform.” According to the outlet, “The league will also bring back the ‘Say Their Stories’ initiative and for the first time, each team will highlight its social justice work during a regular-season home game in Weeks 17 and 18.”

“The key message for us as the season is starting, we are ramping up again in a big way with our social justice work,” Anna Isaacson, NFL senior vice president of social responsibility, told the AP.

Players are permitted to wear helmet decals of six approved messages, including “End Racism,” “Stop Hate,” “It Takes All of Us,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Inspire Change,” and “Say Their Stories.”

The league also reportedly plans to feature the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as “a prominent part of all big league events” this season, including the Super Bowl, NFL Playoffs, and NFL Kickoff game, according to Front Office Sports. The song, written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900, has been dubbed the “Black National Anthem.” – READ MORE