I think players and coaches and owners have some interesting decisions.
Players have to decide how far to push their convictions. Will they cash checks from an owner who speaks out against causes they care about? I would guess they will. Can they push out an owner like NBA players did?
They don't have the same fans, workforce, or pay guarantees that NBA players have. Star NFL players like Deshaun can probably make loud demands and get listened to by their team owner. Especially while negotiating a new contract. I also think Deshaun is right that white players will get uncomfortable real fast if they don't tow the line and play public ally in the exact way expected.
Coaches have a team of largely black young men. Coaches already exist in a weird grey area between players and ownership. If coaches don't support black causes they can lose the locker room. Especially if the star players in that locker room are outspoken about those causes. Bill O'Brien probably buys a ton of buy in from his team just by kneeling. Who knows if he believes kneeling matters either way, but he probably heads off all kinds of trouble by doing it. And I would guess he cares more about locker room trouble then about angry fans. Fans here have mostly hated him for a while now and it doesn't bother him at all.
And ownership in every NFL city cares passionately about money. They need to decide what the correct balance is between conflict with their own players on a level that hurts the bottom line, versus angry fans who don't buy $13 beers.
Basically, a few people in the NFL probably have actual convictions in some direction, a bunch will go along with whatever is trending, others will do whatever protects team chemistry, and other will do whatever helps the financial bottom line.
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