National Football League

How Will The NFL Respond?

Updated Aug. 27, 2020 9:52 p.m. ET

Over the last 24 hours, the NBA has grabbed the attention of the sports world, not because of the intense playoff drama, but rather the intensity of its mission off the court.

In response to the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 23, the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted Game 5 of their first round series against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.

Milwaukee's decision led to all six playoff games on Wednesday and Thursday being postponed, and on Wednesday evening, the players inside of the NBA bubble met to decide if they would continue the playoffs or boycott the rest of the postseason.

On Thursday morning, they reached a decision.

Now, the shockwaves of the NBA's surprising boycott are being felt in other professional sports leagues, including the NFL.

The Detroit Lions actually protested the shooting of Blake on Aug. 25 – a day before the NBA boycott – cancelling their practice and addressing the media as a team to discuss the shooting.

Separate teams and players around the NFL began to follow Detroit's lead, whether it was speaking out on the matter or canceling team-related activities.

On Thursday, the Baltimore Ravens released a powerful statement, calling for the arrests of the police officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky on March 13, as well as the officers who shot Blake, among other action items.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll spoke up in support of the Bucks' boycott and reflected on Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers' powerful words after the Clippers playoff win over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

Said Carroll:

"I heard Doc Rivers talking today, and Doc did a great job of stating that this is just ridiculous. I can't even imagine that this continues to happen. I don't know how somebody could ever do that under the circumstances and the awareness that everybody should have right now, but it continues to happen, so it continues to be a real problem.

"There's a lot of problems, but that's just one of the ones that just jumps out at us. So I really applaud those guys for taking the night, but that we all know that's not enough, it's just a statement, and what is important that everybody who is involved knows, it's what we do about it and what we keep doing to straighten things out and get things right. This whole thing is ridiculous, and anybody that doesn't recognize that just isn't paying attention."

Seattle All-Pro safety Jamal Adams was also vocal on social media about his concerns as an African-American man in a country where he feels he could be the target of police violence at any moment.

Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro safety Tyrann Mathieu also voiced his frustrations on Twitter, lending his support to the Bucks for starting the conversation through their boycott.

The Buffalo Bills were one of the teams to release a statement supporting the professional teams and athletes who this week took a stand against police brutality.

The NFL and NFL Player's Association also released a joint statement, referencing the difficult conversations that need to be had in order to achieve real progress moving forward.

ESPN's Dan Graziano addressed the NFL reaction on Get Up this morning, discussing how NFL players are closely watching their NBA counterparts and deciding how to react.

"The key thing to understand here is that NFL players want to know what is being done ... It's almost three months now since that video the players put out, asking the NFL to back them and commissioner Roger Goodell putting out his video in response to that ... The NFL players want to know more about what their league and what their owners are going to do to help them and show support for the causes that are important to them."

The 2020 NFL season opener is set for September 10, and apparently, kneeling isn't the only stance that professional athletes are willing to take.

We'll see if the NFL and its players follow in the NBA's footsteps in the coming weeks.