A new report claims that the NFL will not implement a new anthem policy during the 2018 season.
ESPN is reporting that league insiders have said that the NFL is unlikely to issue any rulings on the anthem issue regardless of whether talks with the players association continue or not, the Hill reported.
The report comes on the heels of an aborted rule that would have banned players from protesting during the nation’s song issued in May. But less than a month later the rule was abandoned when the National Football League Players Association filed a grievance against the rule mainly because the rule was instituted without their input in its creation.
The league then promised to sit down with the player’s association to hash out a permanent policy on dealing with protesting players. To date there has been no news at all on what has come of these promised meetings, nor has there been any reports that such meetings have yet been held.
The only official news about the proposed cooperative venture was a joint statement issued in June that claimed the two sides were preparing to work together on the issue.
No players took a knee during the anthem on Thursday’s opening day, and no players raised a fist. Eagles defender Michael Bennett sat down just before the song concluded, but it is unclear if that was a form of protest.
Meanwhile a pair of polls came out that both find that majorities still oppose protests mounted during the national anthem.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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