Over the weekend, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell issued a public statement apologizing for previously “not listening” to the complaints of Black Lives Matter activists. Goodell condemned “racism and the systemic oppression of black people” and asserted that the league was “wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encouraging all to speak out and peacefully protest.” This is an obvious reference to the controversial anthem-kneeling antics begun in 2016 by then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

At the time, Kaepernick’s offensive display, coupled with the league’s unwillingness to address it, produced a massive negative backlash from fans, as the league’s viewership dropped by 17%. Goodell sought to stop the bleeding by instituting new rules to dissuade anthem kneeling and arguing, “Like many of our fans, we believe that everyone should stand for the national anthem.” Aiming to placate the loud demands of “social justice” activists, before the 2019 season Goodell guided the NFL into a partnership with famed rapper and businessman Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter’s entertainment company, Roc Nation, to help the league promote “social justice” initiatives, which included the league giving millions of dollars to various causes, among them police and community relations and criminal-justice reform.

At the time, Carter contended that “this partnership is an opportunity to strengthen the fabric of communities across America.” Now, following the deluge of protesting and rioting that has rocked the nation, Goodell is acting like he and the NFL have never “listened” to the complaints of players. Instead of standing up and defending the actions the league has taken, he took a knee to support BLM’s narrative of “systemic racism” and white guilt.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees fumbled under the blitz of criticism and hate from the “social justice” mob, apologizing profusely for daring to declare his commitment to standing for the flag. Likewise, it appears Goodell decided to run to the front of the line to genuflect and declare the NFL’s commitment to unquestioningly preach the dogma of BLM.

In a league where 70% of the players are black and those players are paid a salary that places them in the top 1% of wage earners in America, it is frankly incredible that this insidious “systemic racism” narrative even exists, much less is taken seriously. Of course, the race hustlers like to justify their dubious complaint by pointing out that only three of the 32 NFL teams currently have black head coaches. But, using the SJW’s equity logic, how can the league be truly “just” given that the ratio of players by their race doesn’t reflect that of society as a whole? In fact, the current racial ratio of head coaches is much closer to that of the national population. Two can play this stupid race-baiting game.

The greater question the league should be addressing is how it aims to survive this coming season with the COVID-19 pandemic likely preventing the mass gathering of fans at games (they aren’t protesters, after all; they’re fans). Instead, Goodell has elected to kneel for BLM’s “woke” anthem.