American Football has always been played out not only physically on the football field, but there has often been a sociopolitical backdrop to the sport too. Never has that been more in focus than right now, with the Black Lives Matter discourse acting as a warm-up to the season proper.

The NFL, of course, released a statement just two days ago that was loaded with contrition about how they have handled previous controversies – including the Colin Kaepernick situation – and have vowed to improve in the future.

We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black People. We, the NFL, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest. We, the NFL, believe Black Lives Matter. #InspireChange pic.twitter.com/ENWQP8A0sv

— NFL (@NFL) June 5, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js