Tuesday 26 September 2017 18:54, UK
After more than 11 hours of presenting live NFL coverage on Sunday afternoon and evening, I walked away from Wembley Stadium feeling like it was one of the more remarkable weekends in my time covering the league.
When we spoke to MMQB.com managing editor and Sports Illustrated legend Peter King on our show, he felt the same way, after a day in which we saw players across the league protest en masse in response to very pointed criticism from President Donald Trump.
While it was a weekend filled with remarkable endings, spectacular plays and shock results, I am going to ignore the name of this column and - for one week only - focus on just one storyline.
The 'take a knee' campaign strengthens
I can picture some of you shouting at your laptops or mobile devices right now, screaming: "Stick to sports".
Well, the same mantra could be applied to President Trump. Perhaps if he had stuck to politics and not gone on the attack at a rally in Alabama on Friday night, I would be talking about Tom Brady's late heroics, upset wins for the Chicago Bears and New York Jets and a dramatic finish in the Atlanta Falcons' win over the Detroit Lions.
But President Trump demanded that NFL owners fire any "son of a b****" who chooses to kneel for the American national anthem and here we are. The president who was spurned by the NFL when his attempts to buy the Buffalo Bills were rejected also slammed the league for being too soft and not having enough big hits - at a time when concussion worries are at an all-time high - but those are stories for another day, perhaps.
As you are well aware by now, this 'take a knee' campaign, which never really seemed to have a name until this weekend, was made famous by Colin Kaepernick, who refused to stand for the national anthem last season. I say 'made famous' because it was Kaepernick who grabbed the headlines even though others had taken similar action before him, most notably running back Marshawn Lynch during his days with the Seattle Seahawks.
Protesting against social injustice in the United States, Kaepernick sat and then eventually decided to kneel during anthems. I'll have more on what that particular stance has done for Kaepernick later, but it was obvious during the past year that other protests were sporadic at best, with the occasional few players following Kaepernick's lead.
That was until President Trump decided that trivial matters such as hurricane disaster relief efforts in Houston and Florida, as well as ever-worsening problems with North Korea, could take a back seat in order for him to attack the NFL.
Bad move.
NFL players are generally very focused, driven and socially-conscious young men. And they are also capable of coming together as teams and fighting like alley cats when backed into a corner.
President Trump did just that and the players responded, re-igniting a protest that saw just 10 players refuse to stand for the national anthem the previous week. The number was more than 30 times higher on Sunday, although there were so many players, coaches, owners and former players - Baltimore legend Ray Lewis knelt with his Ravens team-mates at Wembley - that it was impossible to count them all.
Three teams - the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Tennessee Titans and the Seahawks - refused en masse, with the exception of Pittsburgh's Army veteran offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva, who stood on his own at the entrance to the tunnel while his team-mates waited in the locker room.
While President Trump was tweeting about a boycott of the league and slating the NFL for boring games on the most exciting match day of this young season, by the way - commissioner Roger Goodell praised his owners and players as they made a social stand together, stating: "The way we reacted today made me proud."
It should be noted that the NFL is not simply taking a knee en masse in the hope that others will take action. They are attempting to make a difference with their own actions. The aforementioned Kaepernick has donated $1m to community causes in the past 12 months, the league is working extensively on police and community relations across America and hundreds of players are out promoting charitable and worthy causes every week.
With relations already frosty between players and owners and the league and the NFL Players Association, President Trump probably felt he was going to divide a fractured group. Wrong! He provided the one unifying factor between the two sides.
Which now leads us to wonder how long and how drawn out these protests will be. There is no doubt they are for a worthwhile cause, but it must also be noted that certain Americans are taking offence to the stance being taken by the players. Millions of Americans love their flag and not paying proper homage in that regard can be viewed as being downright offensive.
So how will the NFL handle this in the long term? That is going to be fascinating to see because Goodell has given his seal of approval to what happened this past Sunday. But does he want every weekend to play out that way?
The league actually has rules in place which dictate that a team must be on the sideline for the national anthem and not in the locker room (like the Steelers). No fines will be forthcoming this week but how does all this play out in the long run and does it damage the NFL?
Without wishing to back down due to President Trump's comments, I wonder if the NFL will consider the national anthem too divisive in terms of being a focal point of any protest. But then, would delivering in-stadium video board messages, or whatever other means the NFL comes up with, to deliver the players' concerns over social issues be as impactful as what the players are currently doing?
There are a lot of questions to be answered by the NFL and its players in the coming days, but it is clear they are in lockstep for now in response to President Trump's outburst.
If the league is proud of its players and owners for their 'take a knee' stance on Sunday, should there not be room in the NFL for the man who started the campaign last summer?
There is a growing belief that Kaepernick, who was a starting quarterback last season, but who is now without a job, has been blackballed by the NFL owners. If that were the case, that would reek of hypocrisy given the events of the weekend.
If NFL owners don't rate Kaepernick as a player, and I admit he is a regressing quarterback with limited skills, then don't sign him.
But I refuse to believe he is not one of the best 96 quarterbacks in the league and given what transpired on Sunday, his political beliefs and actions should no longer serve as a barrier to his signing, not that they ever should have in the first place.
