Earlier this summer, the NFL revealed plans to feature social justice messaging during the 2021 season. Those plans include permitting select messages to be displayed on players’ helmets and the addition of the Black National Anthem before major events.
With the NFL season prepped to welcome back fans and kickoff Week 1 of its regular season, Megyn Kelly lashed out at the league for mixing sports and politics.
“I don’t think people want politics in their sports,” Kelly told her producer Steve Krakauer. “I think that’s why the NBA has taken such a hit and learned from its prior experience. The NFL doesn’t seem to be learning quite as quickly.”
The NFL has been heavily associated with social justice messaging since Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem five years ago. And for five years, critics of Kaepernick and social justice messages have threatened to boycott the NFL, but the league continues to thrive.
“People are holding their noses and stomaching this,” Kelly said to explain why the NFL’s popularity continues to grow with no sign of a bubble pop in sight.
Not only will players continue to protest social injustices, but the league is encouraging it, permitting six different messages to be displayed on helmets during games. Players can choose from, “End Racism,” “Stop Hate,” “It Takes All of Us,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Inspire Change” and “Say Their Stories.”
“All of these for the most part are race based,” Kelly noted of the six messages, before complaining about the league’s plan to incorporate the song Lift Every Voice and Sing, which is often referred to as the Black National Anthem.
“I don’t think that the average American – Black or White – wants to hear the Black national anthem before they hear the national anthem…and it’s no offense against people of color, we’re one country,” Kelly said. “We don’t need separate anthems.”
“It’s a chance to come together,” she added on The Megyn Kelly Show. “Celebrate America… and then play a sports game. And not to shove politics or divisive cultural issues down the throats of the viewers who are looking for a getaway.”
Like last season, Lift Every Voice and Sing will only be performed at major league events and will be played in addition to The Star-Spangled Banner, not replace it.
NFL TV partners typically only air the national anthem ahead of special events such as the Super Bowl or the season’s kickoff game. At-home viewers are unlikely to see either national anthem performed during most regular-season weeks of the NFL, meaning the league’s decision bears almost no impact on the product being delivered to audiences.
*story by MEDIAite
