NEW YORK – NFL end zones will be inscribed this season with two slogans: “It Takes All Of Us” on one end line, “End Racism” on the other.
As part of its social justice awareness initiatives, the NFL also will allow similar visuals on helmets and caps.
Previously announced were decals on the back of helmets, or patches on team caps, displaying names or phrases to honor victims of racism and/or police brutality.
Now, a T-shirt designed by NFL Players Association executive committee member Michael Thomas, a safety with the Houston Texans, can be worn in warmups. That T-shirt says: “Injustice against one of us is injustice against all of us,” in the front. The back says reads: “End racism.”
Players can choose either a name of a victim or one of four preferred phrases the NFL has approved: “Stop Hate”; ”It Takes All Of Us"; “End Racism”; or "Black Lives Matter.’” The same choices are available for coaches and on-field officials.
Each week, the NFL will feature the story of a victim of social or racial injustice or police brutality and tell that person's story "in and around" the games, the league said.
NBC Sports initially reported the end zone displays and warmups designed by Thomas.