Roger Goodell Says Fans Attend NFL Games to Have Fun, Not to Be 'Protested To'

National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday fans attend NFL games to "be entertained and have fun" and suggested players' protests during the national anthem infringe on that effort.

Bleacher Report's Natalie Weiner‏ passed along comments Goodell made during an appearance at Bloomberg's The Year Ahead Summit about the hot-button topic.

"People come to our stadiums to be entertained and have fun, not to be protested to," he said.

Last month, Mark Maske of the Washington Post relayed a portion of a letter Goodell sent to team presidents and chief executives about the league's stance on the issue:

"Like many of our fans, we believe that everyone should stand for the national anthem. It is an important moment in our game. We want to honor our flag and our country, and our fans expect that of us. We also care deeply about our players and respect their opinions and concerns about critical social issues. The controversy over the anthem is a barrier to having honest conversations and making real progress on the underlying issues. We need to move past this controversy, and we want to do that together with our players."

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started the trend of kneeling during the anthem to protest racial injustice during the 2016 preseason. He explained the reason for his decision to Steve Wyche of NFL.com in August 2016.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," he said. "To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

Kaepernick, who was later joined in the effort by players from across the NFL, opted out of his contract with the Niners in March and has remained a free agent.

When he visited New York Jets training camp in July, Goodell downplayed suggestions the quarterback was being "blackballed" by teams for protesting.

"Those are independent decisions that clubs make," the commissioner told reporters. "Clubs are going to do what they think is in the best interest of their franchise and what it is that they can do to win."

Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump reignited the debate in late September when he suggested NFL owners should fire players who don't stand for the anthem.

A CNN poll released a week after Trump's comments showed 49 percent of respondents called protests during the anthem the "wrong thing" to do, while 43 called it the "right thing."