Police brutality
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

The Michael Jordan statue stands in front of an I Voted banner on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in the atrium of the United Center, transformed for the first time into a super voting site in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Voting, activism replace practice, games in US sports world

By Howard Fendrich Nov. 03, 2020 06:43 PM EST

FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2016, file photo, Vivek Ranadive, the majority owner of the Sacramento Kings, poses in the new Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. Golden 1 Center will be among the places Californians in the area can vote from Saturday until the polls close on the evening of Nov. 3. “There’s no better way to make the world a better place than by making it easy for people to vote," Ranadive said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
Arenas, stadiums find new life as safer options for voting

By Kate Brumback And Larry Lage Oct. 22, 2020 08:47 AM EDT

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

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

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. ...

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

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

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

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2019, file photo, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) leaps over Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander (23) during the first half of a NFL football preseason game, in Baltimore. Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman is tweaking and refining a record-setting unit led by NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, who is expected to again be the key component of an attack with several newcomers in the mix. (AP Photo/Gail Burton, File)
AP Source: NFL to play Black anthem before national anthem

By Rob Maaddi Jul. 02, 2020 06:04 PM EDT

In this combination photo, filmmaker Ava DuVernay appears at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Feb. 9, 2020, left, and Colin Kaepernick attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on May 6, 2019. Kaepernick is joining with Emmy-winning filmmaker DuVernay on a Netflix miniseries about the teenage roots of the former NFL player’s activism. Neftlix says the limited series, titled “Colin in Black & White,” will examine Kaepernick’s high school years. (AP Photo)
Netflix series to dramatize Kaepernick's path to activism

Jun. 29, 2020 12:50 PM EDT

FILE - These are 2020 file photos showing District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, left, and Washington Redskins NFL football team owner Dan Snyder, right. The recent national conversation about racism has renewed calls for the Washington Redskins to change their name. D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser called the name an "obstacle" to the team building its stadium and headquarters in the District, but owner Dan Snyder over the years has shown no indications he'd consider it. (AP Photo/File)
Debate on racism renews calls for Redskins to change name

By Stephen Whyno Jun. 17, 2020 05:36 PM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2020, file photo, New York Giants coach Joe Judge speaks during a news conference in East Rutherford, N.J. Since taking over as the New York Giants coach in January, Joe Judge has made the team and its welfare his main focus. His approach to being the head guy for the first time was to be prepared, demanding, disciplined and ready to adjust. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
Judge says Giants' will approach social issues as a team

By Tom Canavan Jun. 17, 2020 12:10 PM EDT

FILE - In this Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019 file photo, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) passes against the Baltimore Ravens during the second half of an NFL football game in Cleveland. Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield plans to kneel during the national anthem this upcoming season to support protests of social injustice, police brutality and racism, Saturday, June 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane, File)
Mayfield "absolutely" will kneel during national anthem

Jun. 13, 2020 05:59 PM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2016, file photo, San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick kneels during the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. The NFL, which has raised $44 million in donations through its Inspire Change program, announced the additional $206 million commitment Thursday, June 11, 2020. Kaepernick and others began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest social injustice and police brutality. He has not found an NFL job the last three seasons. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
NFL to spend $250 million on social justice initiatives

By Barry Wilner Jun. 11, 2020 07:19 PM EDT

FILE - In this Dec. 22, 2018, file photo, Washington Redskins running back Adrian Peterson (26) stands for the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, Tenn. NFL players who want to kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racism have far more support than Colin Kaepernick did four years ago. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski, File)
Despite far more support, kneeling might not be widespread

By Rob Maaddi Jun. 11, 2020 05:14 PM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2016, file photo, United States' Megan Rapinoe, right, kneels next to teammates Christen Press (12), Ali Krieger (11), Crystal Dunn (16) and Ashlyn Harris (22) as the national anthem is played before the team's exhibition soccer match against the Netherlands in Atlanta. The U.S. women's national team wants the U.S. Soccer Federation to repeal the anthem policy it instituted after Rapinoe started kneeling during the national anthem. The U.S. women's team also wants the federation to state publicly that the policy was wrong and issue an apology to the team's black players and supporters. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
US Soccer repeals rule that banned kneeling during anthem

By Anne M. Peterson Jun. 10, 2020 08:00 PM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2020 file photo San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman speaks during a media availability in Miami, for the NFL Super Bowl 54 football game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Sherman is calling on the NFL to go beyond commissioner Roger Goodell's statement condemning racism. Sherman said, Wednesday, June 10, 2020, the league needs to do a better job hiring minorities in coaching and front office positions and also be vigilant about calling out racism whenever it arises. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, file)
49ers CB Richard Sherman calls for more diversity in NFL

By Josh Dubow Jun. 10, 2020 06:50 PM EDT