Donald Trump Says No NFL Players Reached out After Pardon Offer

President Donald Trump said Friday that no NFL players responded to his offer to recommend people for presidential pardons.

While appearing on Fox News (h/t TMZ Sports), Trump said the following about the situation:

"No, I haven't heard [from them]. ... They're all saying, 'Oh, it has nothing to do with the flag, it's the way we've been treated.' In the meantime, they're making $15 million a year. Maybe they've called the staff but I've not personally heard from one ... because I don't know if it's a real issue. I don't think it's a real issue."

Last week, Trump said he would consider providing pardons to anyone that NFL players believe has been treated unfairly by the justice system.

Trump suggested that his offer could help curb protests during the national anthem by NFL players:

"I'm going to ask all of those people to recommend to me—because that's what they're protesting—people that they think were unfairly treated by the justice system. And I understand that. I'm going to ask them to recommend to me people that were unfairly treated and I'm gonna take a look at those applications and if I find and my committee finds that they've been unfairly treated then we'll pardon them. Or at least let them out."

On Friday, Trump expressed doubt that the anthem protests are meant to curb social injustice.

The demonstrations began during the 2016 preseason, when then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick became the first player to sit—and then kneel—during "The Star-Spangled Banner."

A handful of players have continued the protests since then, and Trump has been one of the practice's most vocal opponents.

Last year, Trump said the following at a political rally in Alabama regarding anthem protests: "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a b---h off the field right now. Out. He's fired! He's fired!'"

This offseason, the NFL enacted a new policy that will fine teams if their players are perceived to have disrespected the anthem.

As part of the policy, players will be permitted to remain in the locker room during the anthem.