National Football League officials on Tuesday weighed the fervor of players who protest racism by kneeling for the national anthem against the anger of U.S. President Donald Trump as their two-day autumn meeting began in New York City.
Trump's unflagging criticism of the symbolic gesture as unpatriotic, which he repeated as recently as Monday, has only made the practice more widespread. His calls for fans to boycott games if players persist is an unwelcome prospect even for the world's highest-grossing sports league and have forced the topic high up the regularly scheduled meeting's agenda.
An NFL spokesman has said the president may not see an outright ban on the act soon, if ever.