The NFL has yet to issue any public statement regarding the violent death of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk — and that silence is starting to raise questions.
Videos by FanBuzz
Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images
As OutKick's Armando Salguero pointed out, several hours after Kirk was killed during one of his events on Wednesday, a league spokesman was asked if commissioner Roger Goodell or the NFL planned to make any statement. No reply was given.
It is not just that the NFL hasn't posted on its official channels. The league has not commented at all. Neither has commissioner Goodell, nor any of the 32 teams. The NBA and Major League Baseball have also remained silent.
Salguero noted the contrast with 2020, when leagues moved swiftly to release statements following the death of George Floyd. NBA commissioner Adam Silver sent a league-wide memo condemning racism and police brutality. MLB published a message in bold lettering about "systemic racism, prejudice and injustice."
Goodell himself issued a lengthy statement on behalf of the NFL that year, stressing the league's "commitment" to being part of the solution.
Against that backdrop, the silence on Kirk's killing has been striking. Kirk, 31, left behind a wife and two young children. He was widely admired in conservative circles and followed by numerous players and coaches across professional sports.
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees did hold a moment of silence, and several current and former NFL players such as Golden Tate, Harrison Butker and Dez Bryant expressed grief over on social media. Lamar Jackson also retweeted Bryant's take.
Before tonight's game we held a moment of silence in memoriam of Charlie Kirk.
Kirk founded the youth activist group “Turning Point USA” and had become a fixture on college campuses. Charlie Kirk, a husband and father of two children, was 31 years old. pic.twitter.com/Fz5xPlmdu0
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 10, 2025
At any rate, as Salguero framed it, both Floyd and Kirk died violently and both left communities in grief. Yet the difference in how major sports leagues have handled the two tragedies may say more about where they stand politically than they likely intended.
For now, the NFL's message on Kirk is no message at all.
