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Report: NFL Will Play Black National Anthem Before Week 1 Games

The NFL is planning to make a huge statement when the season kicks off ... with the league reportedly deciding to play the Black national anthem before every Week 1 game.

"Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing" -- which is often referred to as the black national anthem -- will be played before the "Star-Spangled Banner" prior to every game in the first week of the season, according to ESPN.

It was originally written as a poem by African-American civil rights leader James Weldon Johnson in 1899 -- and later set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson.