⁍ Teams opening the year in empty stadiums knelt, locked arms, raised fists in protest or stayed off the field entirely for the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ and the Black anthem ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ on Sunday.

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⁍ In Atlanta, the teams wore armbands honoring civil rights leader John Lewis and staged the most striking of the day’s gestures.

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⁍ While fans were absent everywhere except Jacksonville because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Minnesota Vikings hosted the family of George Floyd.

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– The NFL’s new season kicked off Sunday with players taking a knee for the national anthem—or at least taking a knee for it. About a dozen players for the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks took a knee during the “Star-Spangled Banner” before the start of their game in Atlanta, the AP reports. They remained on the field for the 10 seconds it took them to take a knee, then left the field. “It’s a start,” Falcons running back Todd Gurley said after the game. “Are we going to keep doing this? … You don’t want to make it a one-time thing—just like having a good game, and then the rest of the season you do nothing.’ Lewis, the Georgia congressman who died in July, was an honorary captain for the game. The Falcons also wore shirts with his quote: “The Vote is the most powerful, nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society.” In Minneapolis, players for the Minnesota Vikings locked arms in the end zone before their game against the Green Bay Packers for “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the anthem that was played before each game in Week 1 as part of the NFL’s social awakening. About 10 of George Floyd’s relatives were shown on the stadium video board from their perch in the upper concourse. “A couple years back, kneeling was the worst thing you could do. And now if you stand, people have something to say about that,” Minnesota linebacker Anthony Barr said. “There’s always going to be people trying to divide from inside. But, however you feel about it, you should express it your way.