The N.F.L. has broken ties with Papa John’s several months after the company’s former chief executive suggested that its pizza sales had declined in part because of player protests during the national anthem.
The N.F.L. and the pizza company said they were mutually dissolving their national sponsorship deal, and that Papa John’s would focus instead on the smaller sponsorships it has with 22 of the league’s 32 teams.
John Schnatter, the founder of the home-delivery pizza chain and the longtime face of the company, stepped down as chief executive at the start of this year.