What Percentage of the NFL is Black in 2020?
The 2020 NFL season is underway and we take a look at what percentage of the league is made up of black players.
The 2020 NFL Season
As of 2020, the NFL is made up of 70% African American players. This is down from 71% in 2019, but still up from the 68% low in 2014. The decline is likely due to the increasing popularity of the game among all ethnicities, not just African Americans.
The NFL Protests
Beginning in 2016, some NFL players began kneeling during the pre-game playing of the national anthem as a way of protesting racial inequality in the United States. The protests initially started with then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who kneeled during the anthem to raise awareness of police brutality and systemic racism against black Americans.
The issue came to a head in September of 2017, when President Donald Trump said that NFL players who didn’t stand for the anthem should be fired. In response, more players began kneeling, and some teams even linked arms in unity. The protests continued throughout the 2017 season.
In 2018, the league approved a new policy that allowed players to stay in the locker room during the anthem if they didn’t want to stand, but it also required them to stand if they were on the field. The policy was met with criticism from both players and fans, and it was eventually put on hold.
As of 2020, there is no formal policy in place regarding the national anthem, but Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that he “encourages all players to stand” for it. It’s unclear how many players will kneel or protest in 2020, but it’s safe to say that the issue is far from resolved.
One thing that is certain is that the percentage of black players in the NFL has been on the rise in recent years. According to data from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, 63% of NFL players were black as of 2019 – up from 57% in 2009. With protests against racial injustice continuing around the country, it will be interesting to see if that trend continues in 2020.
The NFL and COVID-19
The 2020 NFL season is supposed to start on September 10th. As of August 26th, there have been 29 players who have tested positive for COVID-19. No decisions have been made about the season starting on time or what will happen if players test positive during the season. The NFL has said that they are working with the CDC to ensure the safety of the players and staff.
The NFL has been facing criticism for their handling of COVID-19 and other issues such as racism. Some people are calling for a boycott of the NFL this season. In recent years, the NFL has been struggling with declining ratings. It is yet to be seen if this will affect the NFL’s viewership this season.
The NFL’s Racial Composition
The National Football League is America’s most popular sports league, and its players are some of the most well-paid athletes in the world. The league is also majority black, with approximately 70% of its players being African American. This statistic raises a number of questions about the NFL’s racial composition and the league’s efforts to promote diversity.
The Percentage of Black NFL Players
In 2020, 70 percent of NFL players were black, according to Statista. This number has remained relatively steady over the past decade. In 2010, 67 percent of NFL players were black. The percentage of black NFL players peaked in 2004, when 78 percent of NFL players were black.
The percentage of black NFL players has been on the decline since then. In 2020, only 32 percent of NFL players were white. In 2010, 45 percent of NFL players were white. The percentage of white NFL players peaked in 2001, when 53 percent of NFL players were white.
The decline in the percentage of white NFL players is largely due to the increase in the number of Hispanic and Latino players in the league. In 2020, Hispanic and Latino players made up 13 percent of the league. In 2010, only 5 percent of NFL players were Hispanic or Latino.
The Percentage of White NFL Players
In 2020, the NFL is 70% black, 24% white, and 6% Hispanic, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. The NFL has been 70% black since 2001. In 1980, it was 27% black and 58% white.
The Percentage of Latino NFL Players
In 2020, the NFL is made up of 70.0% black players, 24.6% white players, 1.7% Latino players, and 1.9% other players. This is a decrease in the black player percentage from 2019, when it was 71.8%. The percentage of Latino NFL players has also decreased slightly since 2019, when it was 2.0%.
The Percentage of Asian NFL Players
In 2020, the NFL is made up of 70.1% black players, 21.3% white players, 2.5% Latino players, 1.2% Asian players, and 0.8% Other Players.
The NFL’s Racial History
Up until the late 1960s, the NFL was an almost exclusively white league. This began to change with the drafting of black players such as Mel Blount and James Harris. These players shattered the stereotype that black athletes were not intelligent enough to play quarterback. The number of black players in the NFL has been slowly but steadily increasing since then. In 2020, about 70% of the NFL is black.
The First Black NFL Player
The first black player in the NFL was Frederick Douglas “Fritz” Pollard. Pollard played for the Akron Pros, one of the original teams in the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which was renamed the National Football League (NFL) in 1922. Fritz Pollard was also the APFA’s first black head coach when he led the Pros in 1921.
Black athletes were not always welcomed in professional football. In fact, before Pollard there were no black players in professional football at all. The NFL did not have its first black player until 1946, almost 25 years after Pollard broke the color barrier. That player was Kenny Washington, who played for the Los Angeles Rams.
The NFL’s racial history is a long and complicated one. For much of its early history, the league was segregated and whites-only. Black players were not allowed to play with or against white players. This began to change in the 1920s with pioneers like Fritz Pollard, but it would be many years before the NFL became truly integrated.
Even today, the league is not as diverse as it could be. According to a 2019 report from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, 69% of NFL players are black while 31% are white. The league has made strides in recent years to increase diversity, but there is still room for improvement.
The Integration of the NFL
The National Football League was founded in 1920, but it wasn’t until 1946 that an African American player, Kenny Washington, was signed by the Los Angeles Rams. In the years that followed, a few more black players were slowly integrated into the league. However, it wasn’t until 1962 that the NFL fully integrated, when Willie Davis was drafted by the Cleveland Browns.
Since then, the NFL has become increasingly black. In 1970, only about 6 percent of NFL players were black. By 1980, that number had risen to 21 percent. Today, about 70 percent of NFL players are black.
The NFL Today
In 2020, the NFL is made up of 70% black players. This is a stark contrast to the league’s racial makeup in its early years, when black players were not allowed to compete.
The first black player in the NFL was Emlen Tunnell, who joined the league in 1947. He was followed by Kenny Washington in 1952, both of whom played for the Los Angeles Rams. It wasn’t until 1962 that the number of black players in the NFL reached double digits, and it would be another decade before the league began to resemble the diversity we see today.
Today, black players make up the majority of NFL rosters, and the league has done much to support its black player community. In 1993, the NFL hired its first full-time African American head coach, Art Shell. In 2003, the league implemented a “Rooney Rule” requiring teams to interview at least one minority candidate for open head coaching and senior football executive positions. And in 2016, then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality, starting a movement that has continued to grow in popularity among players and fans alike.
There is still more work to be done to make the NFL truly inclusive for all its members, but with each passing year it becomes closer to achieving that goal.
