Since the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk, the NFL’s league office and several teams have wrestled this week with whether and how to remember him ahead of the Week 2 slate of games.

In the end, the NFL decided to have a moment of reflection before Thursday Night Football in the first game after his killing, while leaving the decision on any other remembrances up to remaining 15 host teams in Week 2.

“Last night’s moment was the league’s decision,” a league spokesman said Friday in a statement provided to CBS Sports. “It’s up to the clubs for this Sunday’s games.”

The decisions made this week highlight a precarious position the NFL is in as, what one league source called it last year, the “last, great convening force” in the country. How will the league further commemorate Kirk, a controversial public figure in American politics whose murder at a campus event has led to lowered flags across the nation and social media remembrances from many, including NFL players?

Kirk, 31, was a right-wing political commentator who served as a major influence for young conservatives. The founder of Turning Point USA was shot and killed Wednesday at Utah Valley University while speaking to a group of thousands.

President Donald Trump has said he loved and admired Kirk and announced Thursday he would award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Kirk posthumously. Police arrested the alleged shooter Friday.

Charlie Kirk remembered in sports world

The Green Bay Packers hosted Thursday Night Football. About a half-hour before kickoff, the public address announcer delivered this message to those in attendance at Lambeau Field, which was shown during the Amazon Prime pregame broadcast.

“The National Football League asks that you please join us in a moment of silent reflection following the murder of Charlie Kirk,” the announcement read. “The NFL condemns all violence in our communities. It will take all of us to stop hate.”

The NFL did not issue an official statement until Friday, though Green Bay’s pregame announcement could have been considered one. No NFL team issued its own statement in the wake of the killing either.

Several individual NFL players posted in the hours and days after Kirk’s killing. Among them, Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart said in an Instagram story Charlie “did great things” for America and said his killing was “disgusting and sad” in a series of Instagram Stories. Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker thanked Kirk for being a “strong witness to Christ” and shared a text exchange in his online eulogy.

And as employees across the country in various industries were fired or placed on leave due to comments following Kirk’s killing, that, too, took place in the NFL. The Carolina Panthers fired an employee Thursday following insensitive Instagram posts related to Kirk’s death.

The Packers were not the first professional sports team to remember Kirk. On Wednesday, hours after Kirk’s death was announced, the New York Yankees remembered him with a moment of silence before their game against the Tigers.

How will NFL teams handle Kirk commemorations Sunday?

As of Friday evening, some home teams had not yet decided whether to have public remembrances for Kirk. One team told CBS Sports they are doing internal research before arriving at a decision. An executive on a team playing on the road this weekend said the franchise was relieved it didn’t have to decide what to do this weekend. Several teams declined comment.

One team to keep an eye on would be the Arizona Cardinals, who are hosting their first game of the season this year against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Kirk’s Turning Point USA has been based in Phoenix for years, though he was from the Chicago suburbs.

Here is the entirety of the NFL’s statement, issued Friday:

“Last night’s moment was the league’s decision. It’s up to the clubs for this Sunday’s games. 

“There have been a variety of moments of silence and tributes in-stadium and on-air in all games or a game immediately following events that rise to a national level. Clubs also often hold moments following a tragic event that affects their community.

“There have been moments following school shootings or an attack on a house of worship such as the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018. There also have been moments following major international incidents such as Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 and weather-related incidents such as major hurricanes and fires. This is in addition to honoring those in the NFL family from tributes to recently passed players or personnel, or a player such as Damar Hamlin in 2023. The NFL also honored before Super Bowl LIV NBA star Kobe Bryant and the other victims of the helicopter crash (Gianna Bryant, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser, Ara Zobayan) and also Pro Football Hall of Famer Chris Doleman who passed that week.

“In just this calendar year: ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ has been performed at league events since 2020 following the murder of George Floyd and the events of the summer of 2020, including last Thursday during the Kickoff game in Philadelphia. It is also performed before the Super Bowl.

“This summer before the Hall of Fame game in Canton, the league honored the victims and those impacted by the attack at 345 Park Avenue. During Week 18 games last season, the NFL honored the victims of the Bourbon Street terrorist attack. Also, that season the NFL held a moment to recognize those lost in the deadly crashes near Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia and also prior to the Vikings-Rams Wild Card game that was moved from LA to Arizona due to the wildfires.”