NFL commissioner Goodell says 'need for action' after Floyd death

New York - A number of NFL players are among sports figures who have spoken out in the wake of Floyd's death.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Saturday there "remains an urgent need for action" as violent protests rocked the United States after the death of an unarmed black man in police hands in Minnesota.
George Floyd, 46, died Monday after police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee to Floyd's throat for several minutes, as Floyd pleaded with him to stop. A bystander's video of the encounter has gone viral around the world.
Chauvin was fired on Tuesday and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday, but outrage over the incident sparked protests around the United States, many of which have erupted into violence.
"The NFL family is greatly saddened by the tragic events across our country," Goodell said in a statement on Saturday.
"The protesters' reactions to these incidents reflect the pain, anger and frustration that so many of us feel."
Goodell offered condolences to Floyd's family as well as the families of Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed in her own home by police in Kentucky, and Ahmaud Arbery, a black jogger shot dead by a white man in Georgia.
Goodell noted that Arbery's cousin Tracy Walker plays for the NFL's Detroit Lions.
"As current events dramatically underscore, there remains much more to do as a country and as a league," Goodell said. "These tragedies inform the NFL's commitment and our ongoing efforts. We embrace that responsibility and are committed to continuing the important work to address these systemic issues together with our players, clubs and partners."
A number of NFL players are among sports figures who have spoken out in the wake of Floyd's death.
NBA star LeBron James was among those who contrasted pictures of Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck with the kneeling protests of former NFL star Colin Kaepernick in 2016.
Kaepernick, who was ostracized by the NFL for kneeling during the national anthem in protest against racial injustice, has launched a fund to pay for legal representation for protesters who need it.
Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores, who is black and of Honduran descent, noted some who voiced vehement opposition to Kaepernick's kneeling protest as disrespectful had been silent as black Americans died.
"Many people who broadcast their opinions on kneeling, or on the hiring of minorities don't seem to have an opinion on the recent murders of these young black men and women," Flores said.
"I think many of them quietly say that watching George Floyd plead for help is one of the more horrible things they have seen, but it's said amongst themselves where no one can hear.
"Broadcasting that opinion clearly is not important enough," said Flores, who is one of four minority head coaches in the NFL.
- 'Am I next? -
Floyd's death sparked outrage across the sports world. Two-time Grand Slam tennis champion Naomi Osaka posted pictures of protests from Minneapolis on her Instagram account.

AFP/File / JOSE JORDAN
Protests: Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka
"Just because it isn't happening to you doesn't mean it isn't happening at all," wrote Osaka, whose mother is Japanese and whose father is Haitian.
In Germany on Saturday, Schalke's American midfielder Weston McKennie wore a "Justice for George" armband in his team's 1-0 Bundesliga loss to Werder Bremen.
"To be able to use my platform to bring attention to a problem that has been going on too long feels good!!!" the 21-year-old tweeted.
Rising US tennis star Coco Gauff applauded Osaka's Instagram's post on Saturday.
The 16-year-old African American, who burst onto the international scene with a fourth-round run at Wimbledon last year that included a triumph over her idol Venus Williams, had posted her own chilling condemnation of Floyd's death on social media on Friday.
In a video she referenced a number of unarmed black Americans who died in recent years at the hands of authorities or white fellow citizens.
"Am I next?" Gauff asked.
Criticised for pressing ahead with the Cheltenham Festival as the pandemic took hold in March racing now finds itself in the news in an altogether more positive light.
 
Racing becomes the first sport in England to resume post the coronavirus lockdown in what many in the industry see as a great opportunity to attract a new fan base. -- AFP

English racing will on Monday offer a beacon of hope after months of nationwide gloom when it becomes the first sport in Britain to emerge from coronavirus lockdown.
Criticised for pressing ahead with the Cheltenham Festival as the pandemic took hold in March racing now finds itself in the news in an altogether more positive light.
It returns at Newcastle with a surreal feel with no spectators to watch the 10 flat races restricted to 12 runners per contest and trainers, jockeys and grooms wearing masks.
There will be none of the usual celebratory hugs or shake of the hands between jockeys and trainers as social distancing officers will be on hand to ensure people stay two metres apart.
However, leading flat trainer Hugo Palmer told AFP morale at his Kremlin Cottage Stables in Newmarket has been high due to the "sunniest spring for years" but admits it might have dipped had racing "not been around the corner".
The genial Englishman -- who established himself among the top rank with champion miler Galileo Gold in 2016 -- says racing resuming for the first time since March 17 is a "tremendous opportunity" for the sport.
"There is precious little else to watch although it coincides with the day the Government allows more people to meet outside," Palmer said.
"My mother would have been furious if she caught me watching TV on a sunny day!
"However, we have to hope people will stay inside and watch the racing.
"It is a real opportunity to pick up new followers."
Palmer says racing owes a huge debt to the loyalty of owners through the crisis.
Palmer -- who has around 100 horses -- said they could have cut their training costs by taking them away whilst the sport was shut down.
"People largely own racehorses for pleasure and amusement," he said.
"The sport is only able to go ahead on Monday because of the thousands of horses owners have continued to pay to have in training.
"The overwhelming majority of staff were not furloughed and we have not existed on government handouts.
"We all owe them (the owners) a huge debt of gratitude.
"If they had pulled them out of training then we would not have been in a position to put sport on at all."
Phoenix Thoroughbreds -- who have over 60 horses in the United Kingdom -- will have one runner on Monday, Luck on Sunday trained by John Quinn.
"We made a commitment at the start of the lockdown not to take any of our horses out of training and we stuck to that," Phoenix Thoroughbred's CEO Amer Abdulaziz Salman told AFP.
"For us, we need to race not just for the prize money but also for the breeding side of our operation."
Salman takes the same view as Palmer that it could be a new dawn for the sport.
"This is an unprecedented opportunity for racing in the UK to raise its profile," he said.
"With no other sport to watch, you would hope a whole new audience and even generation will tune in."
Palmer has two runners at Newcastle -- the racecourse where two-time Arc de Triomphe winner Enable opened her account in November 2016 -- but will not be gracing the track with his presence.
"I have a very experienced team of people who are very good at their jobs," he said.
"With restricted numbers my presence would be unnecessary.
"Besides there is nowhere to get lunch, nowhere to get a drink.
"People will be just going back to their cars (when they don't have runners involved in a particular race) and listening to the radio or watching the racing on their phones."
Palmer says it has been perhaps easier for trainers to keep going because equine viruses are the bane of their lives.
"There was a biography titled 'Months of Misery and Moments of Bliss (late trainer Bill Wightman)," he said.
"To train horses you need an inherent optimism and a spring in your step to drag yourself out of bed long before the cock crows and to keep doing it because nobody is forcing you to do it."