Black Lives Matter: NFL plans for social justice decal stickers on helmets
League has not previously allowed such messaging, except for annual salutes to military and campaign to raise awareness around breast cancer
Tuesday 21 July 2020 22:54, UK
The NFL is planning to allow players to have decal stickers on the back of their helmets bearing names or initials of victims of systemic racism and police violence.
The league has been in talks with individual players and their union since June about how they can honour such victims, with a list of names being put together collaboratively.
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The initiative will be performed throughout the league, with each team deciding the identity of who it will honour and how to display either the name or initials.
Teams will be able to have several different decals for players to wear rather than just one and will continue for the entire season.
This initiative is something of a breakthrough for the NFL as the league has not allowed such messaging, except for during its October NFL Crucial Catch programme in conjunction with the fight against breast cancer, and in its November salutes to the military.
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It has previously tried to distance itself from getting involved in social issues - former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick causing controversy when he knelt for the national anthem prior to games in 2016.
In response, the league implemented a new policy in 2018 that required players to stand for the anthem.
However, since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked global protests through the Black Lives Matter movement, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has stated the league was wrong for not listening to players' concerns over social injustice and racism.
The NBA already allow players to put various phrases supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and similar social justice causes on their jerseys for the restarted season this month, although names of victims are not included.
Players will also be allowed to represent a cause on their cleats one weekend per season.
Meanwhile, Edmonton's Canadian Football League team has dropped the word Eskimos from its name, following an extensive review.
Similar to the NFL's Washington franchise abandoning the word Redskins from their name due to historically racist connotations, the team will be known as the Edmonton Football Team or EE Football Team while a process for finding a new long-term name is determined.
