Voting
FILE - Driver Bubba Wallace wears a Black Lives Matter shirt as he prepares for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Martinsville, Va., in this Wednesday, June 10, 2020, file photo. In a most unusual year already thrown into chaos by the coronavirus pandemic, many athletes took unprecedented steps when a nationwide reckoning on race spilled into the streets of American cities after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, while in Minneapolis police custody. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Athletes act: Stars rise up against racial injustice in 2020

By Cliff Brunt Dec. 29, 2020 01:41 PM EST

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) smiles during the second half of an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
Mahomes piles up big numbers at Arrowhead - on Election Day

By Arnie Stapleton Nov. 10, 2020 03:33 AM EST

A limited audience at Arrowhead Stadium watch as the New York Jets play the Kansas City Chiefs in the second half of an NFL football game on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Election day over, Chiefs' Mahomes refocuses on football

By Dave Skretta Nov. 04, 2020 02:57 PM EST

"Detroit Votes" is displayed on the Ford Field scoreboard, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Detroit. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson cast her vote in a drop box at the Detroit Pistons' training facility and about 12 hours later, she witnessed ballots being rolled into Ford Field for a double-checking step of the election process. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Sports venues across country in play on Election Day

By Larry Lage Nov. 04, 2020 04:44 AM EST

The Michael Jordan statue stands in front of an I Voted banner on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in the atrium of the United Center, transformed for the first time into a super voting site in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Voting, activism replace practice, games in US sports world

By Howard Fendrich Nov. 03, 2020 06:43 PM EST

Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson (8) tries to pass against Philadelphia Eagles' Rodney McLeod (23) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Rodney McLeod's voting initiative includes fun events

By Rob Maaddi Oct. 29, 2020 12:52 PM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2016, file photo, Vivek Ranadive, the majority owner of the Sacramento Kings, poses in the new Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. Golden 1 Center will be among the places Californians in the area can vote from Saturday until the polls close on the evening of Nov. 3. “There’s no better way to make the world a better place than by making it easy for people to vote," Ranadive said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
Arenas, stadiums find new life as safer options for voting

By Kate Brumback And Larry Lage Oct. 22, 2020 08:47 AM EDT

Former Falcons and Eagles quarterback Michael Vick signs autographs in the NFL Shop at the Super Bowl Experience in Atlanta in Jan. 31, 2019 file photo. Vick is working with the LeBron James-led political empowerment group More Than A Vote and the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition to help other former felons pay fines that are preventing them from voting. His journey is being chronicled in new documentary miniseries. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Michael Vick working to clear way for Fla. ex-felons to vote

By Kyle Hightower Sep. 27, 2020 11:07 AM EDT

FILE - In this April 29, 2016, file photo, former Walter Payton Man of the Year Chester Pitts poses for photos upon arriving for the third round of the 2016 NFL football draft in Chicago. In the Austin, Texas area Pitts, who played nine pro seasons as a guard and tackle, has been directly involved in getting out the vote for years. Often, he has chartered a bus and helped the elderly get to their polling places. He has similar plans for this fall during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
Former NFL players getting out the vote in communities

By Barry Wilner Sep. 23, 2020 02:16 PM EDT

Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys in the first half during a NFL football game on opening night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Sunday, September 13, 2020. (Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register via AP)
SoFi Stadium serving as voting center in NFL vote initiative

Sep. 22, 2020 12:09 PM EDT

NFL, players' union to close facilities on Election Day

Sep. 03, 2020 11:46 AM EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — All NFL and NFL Players Association facilities will close on Election Day, and the league and union will televise a one-hour program next week...

Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams, left, talks with teammates Shaquill Griffin, right, and Quandre Diggs, center during NFL football training camp, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Seahawks' Diggs implores others to register to vote

By Tim Booth Aug. 28, 2020 08:07 PM EDT

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers (17) watches as quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) throws during practice at the NFL team's football training camp in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Colts return to practice with plan to combat injustices

By Michael Marot Aug. 28, 2020 05:17 PM EDT

FILE - In this Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, file photo, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Shaquem Griffin, left, and his twin brother, cornerback Shaquill Griffin, leave the field following the team's NFL football preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts, in Seattle. The NFL is partnering with three non-profit, non-partisan organizations to get out the vote as the league leverages its “Inspire Change” initiative. The program will support and encourage voting and civic engagement efforts of current and former NFL players, club and league personnel and fans beginning Friday, Aug. 7, 2020, until Election Day in November. The Griffins are at the forefront of the movement among players. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear, File)
Indianapolis Colts at Seattle Seahawks 8/9/2018

Aug. 16, 2020 05:58 PM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2020, file photo, Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes, left, and Tyrann Mathieu celebrate after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL Super Bowl 54 football game in Miami Gardens, Fla. Just about the only person in the world that seems to be having a good year is Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs quarterback led his team to its first Super Bowl title in 50 years, was the game's MVP, signed a contract that could be worth a half-billion over the next decade and has grown confident enough in himself to speak out about issues that affect society as a whole.(AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Chiefs star Mahomes having 2020 nobody will soon forget

By Dave Skretta Aug. 10, 2020 02:06 PM EDT

An Atlanta Hawks security guard opens a door before a media tour of the State Farm Arena, home of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks basketball team, Friday, July 17, 2020, in Atlanta. The 16,888-seat facility will be used as a poll location for the upcoming election. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Column: Beyond kneeling, T-shirts, sports push major changes

By Paul Newberry Aug. 07, 2020 06:11 PM EDT

Kansas City Chiefs' Tyrann Mathieu (32) celebrates during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 54 football game against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Kansas City Chiefs won 31-20. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Mahomes, Mathieu leading Chiefs in voter registration drive

By Dave Skretta Jun. 12, 2020 02:07 AM EDT

FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018 file photo, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Justin Coleman (28) reacts after intercepting a pass at the goal line intended for Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate during the second half of an NFL football game in Detroit. Coleman agreed to a $36 million, four-year contract with the Lions and plans to sign Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person spoke Monday, March 11, 2019 to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not been announced. (AP Photo/Rey Del Rio, File)
Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions 10/28/2018

Apr. 11, 2019 08:52 AM EDT

FILE - In this May 20, 2018, file photo, then-Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams participates in a debate in Atlanta. Abrams is an unusual and historic choice to deliver the opposition response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union, but Democratic leaders are signaling their emphasis on black women and on changing states like Georgia. Abrams will be the first black woman to deliver an opposition response. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)
Stacey Abrams to take to Georgia airwaves during Super Bowl

By Bill Barrow Jan. 31, 2019 10:34 AM EST