Although reports coming from last week’s meeting between NFL owners and players have been generally positive, Chargers left tackle Russell Okung told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday that some players aren’t happy with the progress of the league’s efforts toward social justice reform — and that some players could skip the next planned meeting.
“I am disappointed that further progress has not been reached on discussions with the league,” Okung said, per Schefter. “NFL officials appear unmotivated and don’t share the same sense of urgency. Increasingly, the meetings appear unproductive at best and disingenuous at worst. Furthermore, the ongoing disparagement of Colin Kaepernick is a factor needing remedy for the players and public to feel heard and for real progress to be made.”
Kaepernick was not invited to the Oct. 17 meeting attended by NFL players, owners, executives and the NFL Players Association in New York, though he is expected to attend the next meeting. The meeting ran longer than expected — more than three and a half hours — but it doesn’t sound like much got done besides the two sides engaging in a “productive” conversation.
“I thought there were concrete plans to help. To my dismay, that wasn’t true at all. It’s only remained as just talking,” Okung said Thursday, per Schefter. “There hasn’t been any action. It’s disappointing, because anytime the NFL says it cares about something, like breast cancer awareness, domestic violence, concussions, it comes out in force. So far we haven’t seen that.”
According to Jason La Canfora, the NFL and NFLPA are planning to roll out new projects and initiatives around Week 13. The core focus of the initiatives will be in Weeks 13-15, until 2018 when the league wants to unveil a Social Awareness Month on the league’s calendar. The initiative is expected to include PSAs and commercials that show what the league is already doing for the community.
Per La Canfora, the league is planning on putting these new initiatives on the same level as “Crucial Catch,” which supports cancer causes, and “Salute to Service” — two of the NFL’s biggest movements to date.
“We felt like the meeting went really well,” said Eagles safety (and noted protester) Malcolm Jenkins after last week’s meeting. “Obviously we’ve been invited up here to be able to speak with owners about some of the issues of injustice that we’ve seen in our communities, and how as players we can use our platforms. And we just talked about how the owners could come alongside us collectively, collaboratively, work together to create change, some real change.”
In attendance on the players’ side, along with Okung, were retired receiver Anquan Boldin, Colts safety Darius Butler, Dolphins players Kenny Stills, Julius Thomas, and Michael Thomas, Giants linebacker Mark Herzlich, Jets players Kelvin Beachum and Demario Davis, Eagles players Malcolm Jenkins and Chris Long, 49ers safety Eric Reid, and Redskins‘ cornerback Josh Norman.
They were joined by DeMaurice Smith, Eric Winston, and Don Davis from the NFLPA, and Roger Goodell and Troy Vincent from the NFL. The following team representatives attended the meeting: Cardinals president Michael Bidwill, Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Bills owner Terry Pegula, Texans owner Robert McNair, Jaguars owner Shad Khan, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Giants owner John Mara, Steelers owner Art Rooney, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, and 49ers owner Jed York.