The NFL says that the guilty verdict against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin does not “undo the loss of life,” and that George Floyd should be “here with us today.”
The league released the statement via Twitter just over an hour after a Minneapolis jury found Chauvin guilty on all three counts of second and third-degree murder along with second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in May.
The league has remained firmly in support of the social justice movement since June of last year when Goodell released a video message saying the league was “wrong” for not listening to the players after Colin Kaepernick began his anthem protests in 2016. Goodell also said, “Black Lives Matter.”
Since then, the league has made the social justice movement an official part of its organizational structure. In addition to creating player-un initiatives such as the Players Coalition, the league also entered into an “entertainment and social justice” partnership with rap icon Jay-Z.