NFL memo: Juneteenth will be recognized as league holiday

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly sent a memo to staff Friday morning indicating that the NFL now will observe Juneteenth — June 19th — as a league holiday. The league office will be closed on that day.

Juneteenth is the celebration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Back on June 19, 1865, Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas with the news that the Civil War was over and that slaves would be freed.

NFL Media’s Judy Batista first reported the memo. ESPN’s Adam Schefter provided a screenshot of the document Goodell sent to his staff:

“It is a day to reflect on our past, but more importantly, consider how each one of us can continue to show up and band together to work toward a better future," Goodell wrote.

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