Despite appearances, the NFL still pays lip service to 'woke' crowd

Amid ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) actions ramping up in major cities like Chicago and Portland, the National Football League (NFL) announced that Spanish-language-crooning Puerto Rican and Trump-critic "Bad Bunny" will be 2026's Super Bowl halftime performer. 

At odds are President Donald Trump's stance on immigration and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to give a global platform for "Bad Bunny," whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio. The announcement may seem strange in light of the NFL appearing to return to its original non-woke values. However, the departure from woke causes like DEI, BLM and LGBTQ may not have been genuine. Ocasio is from Puerto Rico, and thus not an illegal immigrant, although he has expressed fears that his fans will be targeted for arrest by ICE.

The NFL's "woke" history

Super Bowl LX, in host city Santa Clara, California, will take place at Levi's Stadium on February 8, 2026, a little over a year since Trump signed his Inauguration Day executive order entitled, "Protecting the American People Against Invasion," targeting the illegal immigration crisis that percolated under former President Joe Biden. 

In 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem before games, a move many Americans viewed as disrespectful to the American flag and military veterans. His protest, ostensibly to highlight racial injustice, led other NFL players to join in, prompting widespread anger from fans who felt the league was allowing divisive political activism to overshadow sports. 

The controversy sparked boycotts and a drop in NFL viewership, as critics argued the organization was endorsing anti-American sentiments. After opting out of his 49'ers contract in March 2017, Kaepernick went unsigned by any NFL team, effectively ending his playing career. While the controversy disappeared with his departure, the NFL neither sanctioned Kaepernick nor imposed any guidelines barring such behavior. 

Kneeling and appealing

Following the 2016-2017 Kaepernick fiasco, protests erupted in the summer of 2020 amid violent nationwide Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots after the police-custody death of George Floyd. This time, rather than individual player actions, the backlash from Americans targeted the league's public pivot toward progressive causes, including Commissioner Roger Goodell's public statement on racism ("We, the NFL, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black people"). 

Protests intensified in late May 2020, with Goodell's video statement released on June 5. By Week 1 of the 2020 season (September 10), nearly every team participated in pre-game protests—players, coaches, and even owners linking arms or kneeling. NFL fans were subjected weekly throughout the season to league-wide kneeling during the anthem and visible on-field messaging like "End Racism" and "It Takes All of Us" paraphernalia and decals in end zones.

In the wake of the Kaepernick and BLM controversies, the NFL came under fire nearing the 2023 season when fans learned that the league had expanded its "Rooney Rule", which requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching positions and other senior roles, going so far as to offer draft pick incentives to teams that developed minority coaches. The league also pushed into "Inspire Change" program which funds community diversity initiatives. 

As such, the NFL has not fully departed from its social justice or "woke" initiatives as of October 6, 2025, but its approach has evolved, with some scaling back of overt messaging in response to fan and political pressure, creating a perception of retreat without a complete abandonment. Here's a breakdown of the trajectory and whether it "seems" like a departure:

• The NFL has consistently maintained its "Inspire Change" program, launched in 2017, with over $350 million committed to social justice causes by 2025, including grants for criminal justice reform and education equity (per NFL.com).
• End-zone slogans like "End Racism" and "It Takes All of Us" have appeared every year since 2020, including the 2025 season, despite boycott threats. Performances of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (the "Black national anthem") have continued at major NFL events like the Draft and season openers.