The league’s head of communications, Rob Demovsky, told reporters that he was “troubled” by the idea that players are being blacklisted for wearing “checkerboards.”
“I’m really concerned about the fact that we are putting players out of work because they wear a checker board suit, because I don’t want that to happen to any player, I don�t want that for any player,” Demovsky said.
“So it is my job to make sure that we’re not making the players work harder or longer than they need to to get the job done, and we want to make that clear to the players.”
He continued: “There’s no reason for the players to have to wear the checker boards to work because the work has already been done for them.
It�s not just a check to see if you are doing well.
It is about the opportunity to work and learn.
So it is something that we want them to understand.”
The NFL has a history of not doing a great job at promoting diversity.
In 2014, the league released a list of the worst 30 teams for the number of women in their locker rooms.
The league was also forced to apologize to an employee after it released a video in which players were shown cheering on the murder of a black man.
“As we’ve said throughout our history, our teams are built on diversity, and our players have earned the respect of our players, our coaches and our fans,” NFL spokesman Michael Signora said in a statement.
“We are committed to creating a more inclusive environment at every level of our games, and will continue to invest in this important work.”
