NFL, NFLPA promise to meet again after 4-hour anthem discussion

The NFL and NFLPA released a joint statement Tuesday, promising to continue the conversation between players, owners, and the league commissioner after they met for nearly four hours in New York to discuss protests during the national anthem.

A group of 11 owners and 13 players met with commissioner Roger Goodell in order to find "common ground" on the subject of peaceful protests. The meeting began at 10 a.m. ET and almost lasted until 2 p.m.

"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," read the statement.

"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."

The belief was the league and its owners would try to convince players not to kneel or sit during the anthem.

"As we said last week, everyone who is part of our NFL community has a tremendous respect for our country, our flag, our anthem and our military," the statement read. "In the best American tradition, we are coming together to find common ground and commit to the hard work required for positive change."