The vast, sweeping changes now covering America have impacted how the public views one of the most contentious issues sports has seen in decades: the right of athletes to protest. A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll has found that a significantly larger number of Americans are now fine with NFL sideline protests, compared to 2016 when they first entered the public discussion.
Then-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kickstarted the protest movement in 2016 when he knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality and systemic racism. At the time, Kaepernick found few allies among the American people; a Yahoo News/YouGov poll at that time found only 28 percent of Americans then considered his actions “appropriate.