On Tuesday, the National Football League held an Emergency Meeting with all team owners to discuss the recent protests, unity, and how to recover from the decrease in viewers. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated in an interview with NFL.com, that the organization wanted players to stand for the anthem. This came after the NFL received an overwhelming amount of pressure from angry fans, military, and non-military, who were outraged by what they called a disrespectful act to the American flag.

Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, started a 'movement' last season in which he refused to stand for the national anthem before NFL football games, in protest of mistreatment of people of color.

Since then, several NFL players have followed suit, dividing fans across the nation, and resulting in a drastic decrease in NFL ticket sales and viewers. Members of the National Basketball League and Major Baseball League have also particpated in the protest.

President Trump said Kaepernick's refusal to stand was "a terrible thing," in a 2016 interview with Seattle radio station KIRO, and also told an Alabama crowd that they should boycott any NFL team that had players who participated in the take-a-knee protest. The president-elect has not remained silent on his stance, and he has been very vocal in his opinions about NFL players who choose to participate in the take-a-knee protest.

Emergency owners meeting

Immediately following the emergency owners meeting, the NFL released a statement, recapping the topics discussed. In the statement, Goodell claimed that the players had, "tremendous knowledge of the issues," and their "commitment to addressing these issues is really admirable." Goodell also explained that the players and the owners desired to work together to solve the current issues at hand.

Goodell implies that they had discussed the issues behind the protest

When asked if standing for the national anthem had been asked for, Goodell replied quickly, stating, "we did not ask for that itself. He also explained that they discussed the issues, "that our players have been trying to draw attention to. About issues in our communities..." Overall, he stands behind his claim the entire focus of the meeting was to make our communities better, and he also stated that another meeting will take place.

He did not reveal when the second meeting would occur.