NFL Responds to Donald Trump's Anthem Tweet, Calls Commentary 'Inaccurate'

The National Football League released a statement Wednesday morning saying a tweet by United States President Donald Trump mischaracterized NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's stance on players protesting during the American national anthem.

Trump praised Goodell for "demanding" players no longer kneel during the anthem:

Adam Schefter of ESPN passed along the league's response to that post:

"Commentary this morning about the Commissioner's position on the Anthem is not accurate. As we said yesterday, there will be a discussion of these issues at the owners meeting next week. The NFL is doing the hard work of trying to move from protest to progress, working to bring people together. Commissioner Goodell spent yesterday with Miami Dolphins players, law enforcement and community leaders witnessing first-hand the outstanding work our players and clubs are doing to strengthen their communities. Players from around the league will be in New York next week to meet with owners to continue our work together."

On Tuesday, Goodell wrote a memo to all 32 teams in which he wrote, "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," per ESPN.com.

"We also care deeply about our players and respect their opinions and concerns about critical social issues," he added. "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."

NFL spokesperson Joe Lockhart said Tuesday the league's operations manual makes it "clear" players should stand for the national anthem, but he added nobody has been punished for their decision to kneel.

Refusing to stand for the pregame song has occurred consistently since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started the trend during the 2016 preseason.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in August 2016. "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."

The debate became reignited when Trump suggested last month NFL owners should fire players who don't stand.

Other athletes, both in the NFL and other sports, have followed Kaepernick's lead in silent protest against social injustice in the U.S.

It's a polarizing topic, though. A CNN poll released last month showed 49 percent of respondents called the protests during the anthem the wrong thing to do, while 43 percent backed the players.