NFL Leaves Tributes for Charlie Kirk to Individual Teams After League-Mandated Moment of Silence
League says Thursday night’s tribute was a league decision and teams may choose whether to hold similar observances this weekend
The NFL said Friday that it will allow individual clubs to decide whether to hold tributes to conservative activist Charlie Kirk this weekend, after the league mandated a moment of silence before Thursday night’s Kickoff game.
Thursday’s pregame observance, held before the Green Bay Packers–Washington Commanders game, was the league’s decision, the NFL said in a statement. “Last night’s moment was the league’s decision. It’s up to the clubs for this Sunday’s games,” the statement said.
The league placed the tribute in the context of past moments of silence and tributes it has organized following mass shootings, international attacks and deaths within the NFL family. The statement cited observances after school shootings, the 2018 attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, and weather-related disasters. It also referenced tributes earlier this decade, including recognition of Damar Hamlin in 2023 and a pre-Super Bowl observance for Kobe Bryant and other victims of the 2020 helicopter crash.
The NFL’s statement noted broader protocol changes instituted after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, saying “Lift Every Voice and Sing has been performed at league events since 2020 following the murder of George Floyd,” and that the song is performed at events including the Super Bowl. The league also pointed to recent tributes at other events, including a Hall of Fame Game observance and acknowledgments tied to last season’s wildfires and other fatal incidents.
The announcement comes after the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday, which prompted tributes across professional sports. Major League Baseball instructed clubs to fly American flags at half-staff through the weekend in line with a White House presidential proclamation, and the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs each held moments of silence before games. The NHL, NBA and WNBA had not issued leaguewide statements as of Friday; league offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Teams have taken independent actions in response to reactions around the killing. The Carolina Panthers said they fired a communications department employee, identified as Charlie Rock, after social media posts attributed to the staffer questioned why people were sad about Kirk’s death. “The views expressed by our employees are their own and do not represent those of the Carolina Panthers,” the team said in a social media statement. “We do not condone violence of any kind. We are taking this matter very seriously and have accordingly addressed it with the individual.”
The NFL’s guidance leaves discretionary authority with clubs for this weekend’s slate of games, a step that follows the league’s recent practice of coordinating leaguewide tributes for certain national tragedies while leaving other gestures to local discretion. Teams deciding whether to hold moments of silence or other observances will do so amid varying fan and community responses to the killing and to how sports leagues choose to mark national moments.
Media organizations covering sports noted that the league’s approach underscores the balance the NFL is trying to strike between leaguewide messaging and club-level autonomy in the wake of events that prompt public attention and debate.