NFL’s new policy isn’t the answer

The NFL (and its predecessor organizations) had plenty of opportunities to set examples and take the lead in human rights efforts — and failed. During a game in Atlanta in the 1960s, Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi (who had Army connections from coaching at West Point) billeted the Packers in barracks at a Georgia army base rather than allow his team to be forced to stay at separate, segregated Atlanta hotels. They took a bus and ate sandwiches from the army mess hall rather than put up with the humiliation of segregated restaurants.

After the game, Mr. Lombardi said that he would never bring a team to segregated Atlanta again. Where was NFL leadership in 1965?

Individual coaches such as Vince Lombardi stand out as champions of human rights and ethical behavior, but not the NFL team owners, by and large. Keeping some players inside the locker room until kickoff is not the answer to the national anthem controversy.