Kaepernick file as NFL chief admits league at fault

The commissioner of the US National Football League (NFL) admitted the organisation has been at fault for not listening to its players denouncing racism, coming as the country is gripped by widepsread protests following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota last week.

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick had been one of the main supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement in the NFL, regularly kneeling down during the national anthem before games.

The NFL had previously banned players from dropping to one knee, a practice started by Kaepernick in 2016.

The 32-year-old quarterback hasn’t played in the league since that season but four years later, his protest is widely viewed as prescient. Though Goodell did not address Kaepernick, he admitted the NFL was wrong to push back against protests on the playing field.