Protests at hotel before NFL owners open fall meetings

— -- NEW YORK -- A pair of protests preceded the opening of the NFL's annual fall meetings, where owners and players are seeking a way to highlight social issues while taking the focus away from demonstrations during the national anthem.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was confronted by two people in the lobby of the Manhattan hotel where the owners are meeting. The protesters shouted at him about white supremacy while Jones was surrounded by bodyguards. Jones stopped to listen but said nothing, and the protesters were peacefully led away.

Outside of the hotel, two dozen supporters of Black Lives Matter New York held a rally backing the players for speaking out -- particularly former? San Francisco 49ers?quarterback Colin Kaepernick for kneeling during the national anthem last year in protest of social injustice and police brutality in America.

A group of owners and players met at the league's headquarters Tuesday morning. Among the topics discussed were enhancing the players' platforms for speaking out on social issues, and the league's policy that suggests but does not mandate players standing for the national anthem.

The league and union issued a joint statement after the meetings:

"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. 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.

"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. In the best American tradition, we are coming together to find common ground and commit to the hard work required for positive change."

Thirteen players (including former player Anquan Boldin), three union representatives (led by executive director DeMaurice Smith), two league representatives (including commissioner Roger Goodell) and owners from 11 teams (including? New England Patriots?owner Robert Kraft) attended the meeting.

Colts defensive back Darius Butler, who was in attendance, doesn't think there will be any change in the rules regarding the anthem in the near future.

"It's ongoing, it's not going to be a resolution overnight," he said. "Obviously, these are issues important to the players. That's what we talked about and some things going forward."

Butler said that the league and owners hearing the players' perspective was the most important thing.

"Obviously, it's a different perspective," he said. "I think that's the most important thing when it comes to these issues, perspective and respect everyone's right regardless of how they feel. Whether it is peacefully protesting or speaking on these issues. I think it's important to respect everyone."

He said he was happy with the outcome of the meeting.

"I'm happy about it and I think it will be even more positive going forward," he said.

But that doesn't mean that players taking a knee will stop.

"It's going to be an individual choice," he said. "I think the ownership, the team, the league and the players, I think are all going in the right direction."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.