After week four of the NFL season concluded Monday night, many controversial strategies and unheard of ideas ran widespread across the face of every one of the thirty-two teams throughout the NFL organization. From the Baltimore Ravens announcing on their slogan of “embrace unity, kindness, and equality” before the National Anthem, to Marshawn Lynch of the Oakland Raiders sporting a t-shirt that said “Everybody Vs. Trump,” the ways in which NFL organizations and players are using their platform to showcase their beliefs and morals has forever changed after this past weekend.

However, from the games this weekend, fans and all who attended got to see the mass amount of teams in which are now not kneeling, but standing and linking arms as a team and organization. With the exception of one or two players on each squad, the NFL organization has seen a gigantic bump in the improvement of the entirety of teams standing for the Anthem.

This is not just pure luck and simplistic; however this change is seen through the upbringing of t-shirts and slogans written on the back of players warm up gear before the game. According to CNN, the Indianapolis Colts wore t-shirts that displayed “we will” on the front, and “stand for equality, justice, unity, respect, dialogue, and opportunity” and the back side of their warm-up gear. The making of these t-shirts proved to not only everyone in the league, but to everyone in society that their platform is one not being used to “disrespect the military, or discount the lives of the soldiers” that have provided this country with the ideals of freedom. But used as one to bring about change to a prominent topic of oppression and racism in our society today.

Other forms of peaceful protests other than the National Anthem came from touchdown celebrations from Carolina Panthers quarterback, Cam Newton. According to CNN, after scoring the game leading touchdown against the New England Patriots on Sunday, the former MVP raised his fist in representation of black power and unity in order to “give people hope, and signify the oppression of the black community.” Acts like these, involving the display of morals and opinions through other ways other than the National Anthem, are beginning to dial down the kneeling and sitting of the Anthem protests that have been occurring for more than a year now.

With many weeks left to go throughout the NFL season, the question if the protests will ever stop continues to fathom throughout the minds of every football fan. However, with these protests becoming more and more peaceful and civil, will more NFL fans like Zac Hardison (11) even want to “keep watching the sport” in which has become more “political and political?” Well, these arguments and protests “might not go away” for a very long time; thus, driving fans away from their seats and onto bigger and better things.