No, the NFL’s worst problem is not pass interference review, nor does it even directly impact the game played within the lines. It does far more.
The main problem the NFL has is a lack of Black representation in ownership despite its 58.9% Black player base in 2019 according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES). If we apply this percentage to ownership, 19 out of the 32 owners should be Black. In reality, there are no Black owners. None. 30 are white with the remaining 2 being Korean-American and Pakistani-American respectively (there has been 1 player of Pakistani background in league history for perspective). That means there is no Black representation at league meetings where the entire future of the league and the status of their mostly Black player base is decided.
The problems that come with a lack of representation have bubbled over in the past years, with acts of police brutality against the Black community being exposed on social media. George Floyd, a Black man from Minnesota who was suffocated to death while in police custody on May 26th has been part of the list of recent deaths due to police brutality, which pale in comparison to long list of racially charged crimes the Black community has endured since this nation’s founding.
The mass outcry for justice for him, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery transcended all platforms, with many professional athletes and leagues making statements condemning racism and some, like the NFL, pledging to donate their funds to fighting systemic racism.
But the NFL’s response to Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 was a sign of how things really haven’t changed. The NFL even banned this form of protest in 2018, stating they’d fine players who chose to kneel. Colin Kaepernick, who is worthy of a job in the league as either a backup or a starter for a QB-needy squad was the face of this movement back in 2016 was cut and hasn’t been offered a team workout since. A sign of this blackballing was when the Seahawks offered to bring him in in 2018, and then postponed the visit when he said he’d continue to kneel, with the 2 sides never agreeing on a deal.
The league’s board of owners likely had something to do with this, as they made their distaste for the movement very well known through their actions and policy changes, a sign of their power to destroy a movement in their sport at its core.
Following the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter protests this year, the league retracted their policy of banning kneeling after seeing some of their star players vow to protest and kneel in the coming season. Commissioner Roger Goodell even suggested that teams should sign Colin Kaepernick, a far cry from the treatment the league gave the quarterback in 2016. While this change in policy is appreciated, these changes are superficial and meant to distract from the real issues in their upper echelon of management. What the league needs is Black voices in the board of owners, because empathy can only get the league so far in terms of defeating issues of racism in the league; it takes people who have experienced systemic racism first-hand and now have the power to do something about it.
If there were even a few Black owners in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick kneeled, I believe the situation wouldn’t have grown out of control, and the league wouldn’t have made the wrong call by banning kneeling.
To recap: It has taken a mass outcry for racial equality for the NFL to reverse its ways, and the owners are to blame. What powers do the board of owners have though? The NFL explains it on their website:
“The Executive Committee includes one representative — an owner or top officer — from each of the league’s 32 clubs. Any change in game rules, league policy or club ownership or other modification to the game must be approved by at least three-fourths of the committee. Without consensus, nothing will pass”
(https://operations.nfl.com/football-ops/league-governance/).
The biggest takeaway from this quote is the influence these owners have on league policy. They can determine whether players should be allowed to speak on social issues using their platforms on Sundays. It’s their business, they can decide whether they want to suspend first amendment rights as a clause of the deals players ink with their respective franchises. No one is saying it is illegal but make no mistake: It is morally criminal to force players to “shut up and dribble” when ownership has no representation in their ranks of the race they are shunning.
I have been observing this business for years now and it’s clear that change only comes when their money is at risk, so I applaud guys like Patrick Mahomes, Michael Thomas, Deandre Hopkins, and many other NFL stars for pressuring the league to make changes in their policy. But at the end of the day, the league needs Black representation in ownership if they are truly committed to change. If they don’t want to bring influential Black voices into management and ownership, we can expect to see some animosity between players and the league for years to come.
