Chiefs Boo Moment of Unity: Due to the ongoing protests on racial inequality, the NFL has responded by playing the Black National Anthem before kickoff during Week 1.
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The NFL is trying to be seen as a supporter for racial equality, despite fumbling such topics before. However, this is being met with backlash from fans with some of them even booing at players and coaches.
Is this a cause of worry for the league?
Week 1 started off with some mixed reviews about how the league is handling racism. The NFL declared that it will play the Black National Anthem during Week 1 in support of racial equality. While some see this as an opportunity to promote racial equality, others see it as a political gimmick.
Fans even started to boo when the Chiefs and Texans lined up for the Black National Anthem.
Players’ reaction to the booing
Texans defensive end J.J. Watt has commented on the booing when the teams lined up for the anthem.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes also commented on the situation as well, with him stating that he didn’t hear a lot of booing.
Coaches’ reaction
The Texans’ head coach, Bill O’ Brien stated that he didn’t hear any booing while lining up. Similarly, Chiefs’ head coach Andy Reid didn’t acknowledge that booing was present.
Did fans actually start booing?
Among the around 16,000 fans in attendance, a lot of them did contest to booing. Some fans said that they didn’t hear any booing while others were pointing out that fans may have been shouting “CHIIIEEFFS”- a common tradition of Chiefs’ fans.
Some said that fans may have booed the Texans for coming out to the field late for the moment of unity.
Also Read: NFL Rating Down 2020
Will this affect viewership and ratings?
We still can’t determine one game’s fan experience. The season is still ongoing and far from over. With some stadiums allowing in-game attendance, we have to see if similar situations above will take place. As for now, we can see the NFL season is underway, and that most of us are thrilled about it.
