The NFL Will Donate $250 Million Over 10 Years To Fight Systemic Racism

One person familiar with the league’s program even said the league would be willing to work with [Colin] Kaepernick on social justice initiatives.

“We wouldn’t be where we are today without the work Colin and other players have led off,” the person said. “That is a key point here. We listened to our players. We needed to listen more, we needed to move faster. We heard them and launched a social justice platform because of what Colin was protesting about. The players have always been an essential piece of this effort and this campaign. It would be awesome to engage Colin on some of the work we are doing. He’s doing real impactful work. Getting him in some way would be amazing for us. There’s a lot of work to do to get to that point. We’re certainly open and willing to do that.”

That’s a hearty $250 million over 10 years from the NFL in the name of fighting systemic racism. Some people online have already critiqued the number as a “rounding error” for the NFL with it amounting to a little over $780,000 per team per year.

And honestly, it does have a whiff of the player contracts the NFL is known for broadcasting. A “$120 million contract” quickly boils down to “$58 million in guarantees” and the rest an amount the team will conveniently look to avoid paying. Between that and the franchise tag, the NFL is known for some contractual fluidity.

But that’s the cynical world view. The donation is still an eye popping number. And it’s certainly more than what they’d been doing previously with the blackballing of Colin Kaepernick and general pressure towards peaceful protest. Maybe Roger Goodell is the Grinch whose heart can grow three sizes in one day? Is Patrick Mahomes the Cindy Lou Who in this scenario? It’s all a very confusing scenario to unpack in a 2020 that’s chock full of them.