<p>The National Football League has issued new guidelines for recruits who will join the league this year, many in the 2020 NFL draft, set to take place &#8220;virtually&#8221; this coming Thursday.</p>
<p>If players are standing for the draft, and hope to be recruited on to a team during Thursday&#8217;s selection ceremony, they should avoid clothing with political statements, shirts with overtly sexual or violent messages, or clothing that promotes a brand not affiliated with the National Football League, <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/04/19/nfl-draft-2020-invitees-must-adhere-to-strict-dress-code/">according to the New York Post</a>.</p>
<p>The memo says that clothing with &#8220;libel or hate speech” or featuring “political statements” will not be tolerated, so if draftees plan on following in former 49ers second string quarterback Colin Kaepernick&#8217;s footsteps, they should be extra careful to keep things off camera.</p>
<p>Other restrictions include clothing that features “racial, religious, or ethnic slurs,” “explicit language” or “obscene, pornographic (or escort services), violent (including firearms or other weapons), or sexual imagery.”</p>
<p>Potential recruits also can&#8217;t wear clothing that features “disparaging depictions of the NFL” or &#8220;defamatory statements regarding the NFL, its owners, employees and/or NFL partners.&#8221;</p>
<p>The restrictions, so far, apply just to potential draftees appearing in Zoom meetings or on livestream from home during Thursday&#8217;s virtual draft, but the NFL does seem to be cracking down on political speech within the league across the board.</p>
<p>Professional football became a flashpoint for political disagreement starting in 2017, when Kaepernick began his &#8220;kneeling&#8221; protest, demonstrating against racial inequality and police violence by taking a knee on the sidelines during patriotic pre-game festivities (including the national anthem). After President Donald Trump became involved, the protest spread league-wide.</p>
<p>The NFL, at first, defended players&#8217; right to protest, but as consumers disengaged from the NFL &#8212; first refusing to purchase tickets and then tuning out of games en masse &#8212; the league felt obligated to step in. After discussions with owners, in 2018, the league adopted a policy largely banning political statements on the field and forcing players to either stand for the national anthem or remain in their locker room during the pre-game.</p>
<p>To assuage player concerns, the league adopted a &#8220;social justice&#8221; initiative.</p>
<p>&#8220;We want people to be respectful of the national anthem,&#8221; commissioner Roger Goodell said at the time, <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/23582533/nfl-owners-approve-new-national-anthem-policy">per ESPN</a>. &#8220;We want people to stand &#8212; that&#8217;s all personnel &#8212; and make sure they treat this moment in a respectful fashion. That&#8217;s something we think we owe. [But] we were also very sensitive to give players choices.&#8221;</p>
<p>Now that professional sports in on hiatus over coronavirus-related lockdowns, the NFL is likely more cognizant than ever of its appearance to average Americans &#8212; and desperate to stay in Americans&#8217; good graces.</p>
<p>The NFL is planning on having something of a &#8220;regular season,&#8221; and players are reporting to virtual &#8220;summer caps&#8221; this week. Like other professional sports leagues, however, how games are played and managed is likely to change. NFL games may be played in a single stadium or group of stadiums and will likely be played without an audience. Sporting events are included in the final phase of the White House&#8217;s &#8220;reopening plan&#8221; &#8212; a phase that the U.S. isn&#8217;t expected to reach until sometime in 2021.</p>

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NFL Issues Strict New Guidelines For Draftees: No ‘Political Statements’ On Clothing