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FILE - In this Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020 file photo, Minnesota Vikings middle linebacker Eric Kendricks (54) readies for the play in the second quarter during an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys in Minneapolis. Eric Kendricks and the Minnesota Vikings have had a rough year between the lines, but the 2019 All-Pro linebacker, whose 2020 season has been shortened by a calf injury, has made quite an impact off the field. He’s the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, for his community work focused on criminal justice reform. (AP Photo/David Berding, File)
Vikings LB Kendricks has done vital work on and off field

By Dave Campbell Dec. 31, 2020 02:46 PM EST

FILE - Driver Bubba Wallace wears a Black Lives Matter shirt as he prepares for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Martinsville, Va., in this Wednesday, June 10, 2020, file photo. In a most unusual year already thrown into chaos by the coronavirus pandemic, many athletes took unprecedented steps when a nationwide reckoning on race spilled into the streets of American cities after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, while in Minneapolis police custody. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Athletes act: Stars rise up against racial injustice in 2020

By Cliff Brunt Dec. 29, 2020 01:41 PM EST

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2019, file photo, free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick arrives for a workout for NFL football scouts and media in Riverdale, Ga. Kaepernick’s publishing company is putting out a collection of 30 essays over the next four weeks about abolition, police and prisons. The project is titled: “Abolition For the People: The Movement For A Future Without Policing & Prisons.” Kaepernick envisioned and curated this project following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. (AP Photo/Todd Kirkland, File)
Kaepernick's company publishing essays on policing, prisons

Oct. 06, 2020 12:33 PM EDT

White inactive for Patriots following death of father

Sep. 20, 2020 08:36 PM EDT
SEATTLE (AP) — The father of New England Patriots’ running back James White was killed Sunday in a car crash in Florida, authorities said. ...

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020 file photo, fans stand for a presentation on social justice before an NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans in Kansas City, Mo. The NFL's new stance encouraging players to take a stand against racial injustice got its first test as some fans of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs booed during a moment of silence to promote the cause, touching off a fresh debate on how players should use their voice. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
Chiefs, Texans booed as racial justice stand sparks outrage

By Heather Hollingsworth Sep. 11, 2020 06:25 PM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2016, file photo, San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick (7) and Eric Reid (35) kneel during the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C. Four years after Kaepernick spoke out against racism and eventually lost his job for peacefully protesting, the NFL supports his fight and now encourages players to stand up for racial equality and social justice.(AP Photo/Mike McCarn, File)
Now that NFL supports Colin Kaepernick's fight, what's next?

By Rob Maaddi Sep. 08, 2020 03:06 PM EDT

FILE - In this Nov. 17, 2019, file photo, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones waits for the team's NFL football game against the Detroit Lions in Detroit. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott wants his teammates to decide for themselves whether to protest during the national anthem. Defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford says they have the “green light” to do so. Jones hasn't said in so many words, but it appears his hard-line stance over his players standing during the anthem has eased amid a national reckoning over racial justice. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Cowboys players ponder kneeling during national anthem

By Schuyler Dixon Sep. 06, 2020 02:29 PM EDT

Roger Goodell: 'The NFL stands with the Black community'

By Rob Maaddi Sep. 01, 2020 09:12 PM EDT
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated the league’s support for players fighting for racial justice and protesting police violence. ...

NFL reveals more in-game social and racial justice plans

Aug. 31, 2020 02:27 PM EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — NFL end zones will be inscribed this season with two slogans: “It Takes All Of Us” on one end line, “End Racism” on the other. ...

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, center, watches the team as guard David DeCastro, bottom warms up and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, left , walks by during an NFL football training camp practice, Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
NFL teams huddling up to devise plans for social change

By Dennis Waszak Jr. Aug. 29, 2020 06:33 PM EDT

Men from Milwaukee wear "We're WI Men" T-shirts as they attend the March on Washington, Friday Aug. 28, 2020, in Washington, on the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Athlete power: ‘Shut up and play' is tossed from the game

By Eddie Pells Aug. 29, 2020 12:51 PM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2020, file photo, Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer speaks during a news conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis. Zimmer and co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson have worked together for four different teams, a football friendship of white and Black coaches renewed when Zimmer was hired by the Vikings and put Patterson on his staff. As Vikings players initiated deep discussions about race and justice on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, Zimmer was startled to hear Patterson reveal his own frightening history of being pulled over by police for no apparent infraction. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Coaching pals Zimmer, Patterson share diverse views on Vikes

By Dave Campbell Aug. 28, 2020 02:21 AM EDT

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn points to a player during an NFL football camp practice, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, in Costa Mesa, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Chargers see new stadium but decide to cancel scrimmage

By Joe Reedy Aug. 27, 2020 07:18 PM EDT

Buffalo Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott runs practice form the middle of the field with a mask on during the second day of training camp opened to the media at ADPRO Sports Training Center's outdoor field in Orchard Park, N.Y., Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. P (James P. McCoy/Buffalo News via AP, Pool)
The Latest: Broncos join other NFL teams, cancel practice

By The Associated Press Aug. 27, 2020 04:41 PM EDT

An empty field is seen at the New York Jets NFL football team's training camp in Florham Park, N.J., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020. The New York Jets canceled their practice in an apparent response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Wisconsin. The Jets provided no immediate details on their decision to not practice. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
9 NFL teams cancel practice in response to Blake shooting

By Dennis Waszak Jr. Aug. 27, 2020 10:21 AM EDT

New York Jets safety Bradley McDougald (30) during a practice at the NFL football team's training camp in Florham Park, N.J., Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020. Within the confines of the team's facility, McDougald is a respected pro football player whose main concern is stopping the offense. When he heads home and turns onto the main road just a few hundred yards away, he goes on the defense. His guard goes up. Just as it has most of his life. “Guys are sick and tired of being sick and tired,” McDougald said Wednesday during a video conference call. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
NFL players concerned, 'sick and tired' of racial injustice

By Dennis Waszak Jr. Aug. 26, 2020 06:04 PM EDT

Detroit Lions defensive end Trey Flowers addresses the media with his teammates outside the Lions NFL football camp practice facility, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Allen Park, Mich. The players were reacting to the recent shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Lions skip practice after discussing shooting of Jacob Blake

By Larry Lage Aug. 25, 2020 03:03 PM EDT

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer watches from the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball first round playoff game against the Orlando Magic Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, Pool)
Wisconsin sports teams speak out after police shooting

By Steve Megargee Aug. 24, 2020 08:35 PM EDT

FILE - In this March 5, 2019, file photo, Sequette Clark, left, leaves the Calvary Christian Center after meeting with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in Sacramento, Calif. California prosecutors on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, asked the NFL to remove a video produced as part of the league's Inspire Change campaign, saying it misrepresents the circumstances leading to the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black man in 2018. The video shows Sequette Clark speaking about the death of her son, Stephon Clark, a vandalism suspect who was killed in the backyard of his grandparents' home after a chase by Sacramento police. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
California prosecutors ask NFL to take down shooting video

By Don Thompson Aug. 04, 2020 07:55 PM EDT

In this June 19, 2020, photo, people attend a peaceful rally in Chicago to mark Juneteenth. The holiday celebrates the day in 1865 that enslaved black people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed from bondage, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
'Lift Every Voice and Sing' hymn ignites hope across nation

By Jonathan Landrum Jr. Jul. 05, 2020 09:45 AM EDT