NFL Teams Being On Field For Anthem Is Relatively New Occurrence - Tom E Curran, NBC Sports Boston

It’s a tribute to the NFL’s ability to drape itself in the flag that few people even realizes that – prior to 2009 – players being on the field for the national anthem wasn’t even standard practice.

It was until 2009 - when the military paid the NFL millions of dollars to stage a patriotic display in order to enhance military recruitment efforts - that NFL players were on the field for the performance of the national anthem.

Before then, they had always remained in the locker room until after the national anthem was performed.

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