NFL owners feared Trump's ire over kneeling, recording reveals

A number of NFL owners expressed fear over backlash the league would face from President Donald Trump if players continued to kneel during the national anthem when the two sides met in October.

Commissioner Roger Goodell requested the contents of the meeting stay confidential, but Ken Belson and Mark Leibovich of the New York Times obtained an audio recording. They corroborated statements from the tape with attendees of the meeting.

In their appeal to players to stop kneeling, several owners appeared concerned with how Trump's non-stop criticism against the NFL and those who demonstrated during the anthem would hurt the league's image.

"The problem we have is, we have a president who will use that (kneeling) as fodder to do his mission that I don't feel is in the best interests of America, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said. "It's divisive and it's horrible."

Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who called Trump's presidency "disastrous," warned players that antagonizing Trump would only lead him to continue his attack on the NFL.

"We've got to be careful not to be baited by Trump or whomever else," Lurie said. "We have to find a way to not be divided and not get baited."

Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula said the league was "under assault" and was battling a "media problem."

"To me, this is like a glacier moving into the ocean," Pegula noted. "We're getting hit with a tsunami."

Later on in the session, owners and players agreed to partner to combat social injustices. Retired wide receiver Anquan Boldin suggested owners needed to back the players to show they care. Safety Eric Reid, then of the San Francisco 49ers, and Eagles defensive end Chris Long were among the other players in the room.

Both sides agreed to meet again in the future, and quickly issued a joint statement to the public:

"Today owners and players had a productive meeting focused on how we can work together to promote positive social change and address inequality in our communities," the statement said. "NFL executives and owners joined NFLPA executives and player leaders to review and discuss plans to utilize our platform to promote equality and effectuate positive change. We agreed that these are common issues and pledged to meet again to continue this work together."