But during Super Bowl LIX, and with President Donald Trump apparently planning to attend on Sunday, the NFL might be making another kind of statement on the Caesars Superdome field itself. According to two league sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, league officials recently changed one of the slogans expected to be stenciled in the back of an end zone from “End Racism” to “Choose Love.”
The game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles will mark the first time since February 2021 that “End Racism” is not included as a message in the back of a Super Bowl end zone.
The switch, conveyed internally to high-level employees earlier this week, could be perceived as a nod to the current political climate. Following the lead of Trump, who was inaugurated last month, many corporations and institutions are abandoning their diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Goodell did not follow suit when asked about the league’s policies on Monday, saying he was “proud” of the league’s diversity efforts.
“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League,” Goodell said. “And we’re going to continue those efforts, because we’ve not only convinced ourselves we’ve proven it to ourselves — it does make the NFL better.”
The decision to do away with “End Racism” as a slogan led at least one high-ranking league official to express concern in light of Trump’s public statements on the subject. But NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said that the decision was based on sensitivity to recent tragedies, including the terrorist attack in New Orleans’ French Quarter in January, the deadly wildfires in the Los Angeles area and the fatal air collision near Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C.
“It Takes All of Us” will also appear in the end zone for this year’s Super Bowl.
“We felt it was an appropriate statement for what the country has collectively endured, given recent tragedies, and can serve as an inspiration,” said McCarthy, who noted that “Choose Love” and “It Takes All of Us” also appeared in the end zones for this year’s AFC Championship Game in Kansas City. The NFC Championship Game in Philadelphia included “End Racism” as an end-zone slogan.
League sources also indicated that Trump is expected to attend Sunday’s game as a guest of New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson.
The NFL launched its “Inspire Change” platform in 2018. Two years later, slogans such as “End Racism,” “It Takes All of Us,” “Stop Hate,” “Choose Love” and “Vote” began appearing on end-zone borders, part of a broader, multi-pronged effort to promote diversity and inclusion. In an internal memo at the time, the messages were said to demonstrate “how football and the NFL brings people together to work as one and use our example and our actions to help conquer racism.”
The changes were initiated in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by a Minneapolis police officer, sparking nationwide protests against police brutality. The issue had risen to the forefront of the NFL community four years earlier, when then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem, and other players around the league soon followed.
t’s not just athletes’ physical performance that is diminished by heat, he adds. “Heat changes your cognitive function in terms of complex decision making, makes you more irritable and more agitated, reduces motivation, and decreases mood.”
This means that scorching temperatures can also impact more “passive sporting events”, such as archery or shooting, where the “margins of error are very small”, he says. (Read more about the sinister ways heatwaves warp the mind.) Acclimatising to high temperatures is now a critical part of training for athletes, says Tipton. “If you get your heat preparation wrong, it’s a risk to life and limb.”
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Mohan is preparing for high temperatures at the Paris Olympics by spending up to an hour in saunas several times a week and turning off the fans while doing her indoor cycling training.
“Being an outdoor sport, whatever conditions you can think of, we have trained in them,” says Pritchard.
Organisers say they are taking a number of precautions to protect athletes from extreme heat. Outdoor endurance events such as the marathon and triathlon will start early, at 8am, when it is cooler, and athletes will have access to water stations and shaded areas at regular intervals, says Lambis Konstantinidis, executive director of planning and coordination at the Paris Olympics. The triathlon will be postponed if the temperature rises above 32.2C (90F), Konstantinidis says.
The AC question
In a bid to halve the carbon footprint of the Paris Olympics compared with previous games, air conditioning units have not been installed in the Olympic Village.
Instead, the village will be cooled by a geothermal system which pumps water from deep below the ground to keep indoor temperatures 6C (10.8F) lower than outside, according to the organising committee. More than 9,000 trees have also been planted in the Olympic and Paralympic villages to provide natural cooling. The “natural freshness” of the River Seine will also help cool the city centre, says Konstantinidis.
Whatever conditions you can think of, we have trained in them – Benjamin Pritchard more more more more more more more more more more more more more more more
Some delegations, including the US, have said that they plan to bring their own air-conditioning units, for athletes’ rooms. “In our conversations with athletes, this was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability,” Sarah Hirshland, chief executive of the Olympic and Paralympic Committee leadership committee, said during a press briefing in June.