NFL Commemorates America's 'Freedom, Unity, And Founding Ideals' Prior To Conference Title Games

You know what we saw from the NFL on Sunday, aside from two conference championship games that sent the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks to Super Bowl LX? Nothing bad.

Nothing embarrassing.

Nothing controversial or so politically charged that it alienated half the country while perhaps uplifting the other half. The NFL stuck to sports on Sunday and it worked. 

Gloriously!

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 25: Sam Darnold #14 of the Seattle Seahawks stands on the field during the national anthem prior to the NFC Championship NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, at Lumen Field on January 25, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

NFL Message Based On America's Founding

The league decided two one-score conference championships and didn't pause before their signature games began to recognize an anti-ICE protester shot dead in Minnesota. The NFL also didn't have team chaplains ask for ICE to leave town and certainly didn't incite "F--- Ice" reactions from fans like the NBA did.

The NFL made one political statement before the AFC and NFC championship games:

"At this time," the public address system blared at Lumens Field in Seattle, "We invite you to stand and remove your hats for the national anthem. As our nation approaches its 250th anniversary in the year 2026, we commemorate two-and-a-half centuries of freedom, unity and the founding ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence.

"The National Football League and the Seattle Seahawks are proud to stand with the America 250 Commission in honoring this historic milestone and reflecting on the enduring spirit of our country."

NFL Put Focus On Games

And then two F-15 Eagles flew overhead to raucous cheering before the Seahawks and Rams stood for the national anthem and then played football.

A nearly identical scene had played out about three-and-half hours earlier at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, where the New England Patriots beat the Broncos.

DENVER, COLORADO - JANUARY 25: A general view inside the stadium during the National Anthem prior to the AFC Championship Playoff game between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos at Empower Field At Mile High on January 25, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

The exact same message was read by the public address announcer. The crowd predictably loved it when it was punctuated by the national anthem and a flyover of military helicopters.

And then the country's most popular sport got about the business of sports.

Please know this is not a stick to sports column. We're long past that. Stick to sports was the hope a decade ago that went largely unheard and unheeded by athletes and leagues – including the NFL – that decided their political opinion mattered to the rest of us.

The athletes and leagues on the left went full throttle toward not sticking to sports, and eventually, athletes and leagues on the right and everywhere in between did the same.

NBA Crowd Shouts ICE Epithets

What this is meant to highlight, however, is the stark difference between the NFL and NBA that is fully leftist-leaning in that it is run by leftists, played mostly by people who vote left, and is significantly funded by the communist China television market. 

It was of little surprise that the National Bolshevik Association's Minnesota Timberwolves paused to honor the memory of Alex Pretti, a nurse who showed up at an ICE enforcement action to engage federal agents while armed with a handgun and was killed in a scuffle with those agents.

That's the same Timberwolves, who never acknowledged the murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student who died violently at the hands of an illegal alien.

After the moment of silence for Pretti, a good number of fans who support the Timberwolves were heard to scream "F--- Ice" before their team got about the business of losing to the Golden State Warriors, whose coach Steve Kerr is also an insufferable leftist.

NFL Commemorated Charlie Kirk 

But before that finale, the game did go to halftime. And the halftime show included the Minnesota Timberwolves dunk squad.

And each member of the squad wore shirts that read "ICE OUT."

The Timberwolves may have taken all these steps outside the approval of the NBA (unlikely). And it could be argued the NFL didn't have similar individual team reactions on Sunday because it wouldn't allow such things or because the Minnesota Vikings wildly disappointed during the 2025 season and weren't anywhere close to a title game.

But, you see, this is where that argument goes sideways: The NFL famously allowed 30 teams to make a decision on whether to commemorate the murder of Charlie Kirk in September. The league itself had control of the first game following Kirk's assassination and on Sept. 11 ordered a pre-game moment of reflection for Kirk at Lambeau Field.

The rest of the teams were left to make their own decisions and 11 held pre-game ceremonies recognizing the political activist's life and passing.

Does that mean the NFL always gets it right? We all know that answer. 

But on Championship Sunday, there was nothing wrong with commemorating the nation's founding ideals.