The National Football League’s ban on on-field national anthem protests has been placed on hold for now.
The NFL and the NFL Players Association released a joint statement Thursday evening to say they had reached a “standstill agreement” on the matter.
“The NFL and NFLPA, through recent discussions, have been working on a resolution to the anthem issue. In order to allow this constructive dialogue to continue, we have come to a standstill agreement on the NFLPA’s grievance and on the NFL’s anthem policy. No new rules relating to the anthem will be issued or enforced for the next several weeks while these confidential discussions are ongoing,” the statement read. “The NFL and NFLPA reflect the great values of America, which are repeatedly demonstrated by the many players doing extraordinary work in communities across our country to promote equality, fairness and justice.”
The statement came just hours after it was reported that the Miami Dolphins instituted a policy that would suspend team players for up to four games if they protested on the field during the national anthem.
[Opinion: NFLPA is going to lose its national anthem lawsuit and hurt the NFL in the process]
The NFL’s preseason is scheduled to start early next month.
In May, NFL owners approved guidelines allowing individual teams to set their own player and personnel policies relating to the anthem.
The policy eliminated the stipulation that players and team personnel be present during the performance and will let players remain in the locker room while the anthem is being played if their team deems it appropriate. However, the policy also stated that the league would fine teams whose players choose to be on the field and do not stand while the anthem is being played.
The changes allow provisions for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to bring “appropriate discipline” on those individuals, the league said in a statement at the time.
President Trump’s criticisms of NFL players who knelt for the national anthem elevated the issue within the league and was reportedly a major factor in its decision to fine teams if their players continue to protest this way. NFL team owners shed light on the extent of Trump’s influence in depositions they gave that were related to a grievance filed against the league by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who started the trend of kneeling for the national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality.
The NFLPA, the players union, filed a grievance earlier this month, calling the anthem policy “inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement and infringes on player rights.”
Trump also criticized the policy, saying at a recent rally in Montana that it was “stupid” and “in many respects that’s worse” than allowing the players to protest.
