Roger Goodell said that he wishes "we had listened earlier" to what Colin Kaepernick was trying to bring attention to when he began kneeling for the national anthem in 2016.

The commissioner was asked by Emmanuel Acho what he would say in a public apology to Kaepernick.

Goodell expressed remorse about the lack of dialogue with the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, saying that the league would have benefited from a conversation with Kaepernick.

"We had invited him in several times to have the conversation, to have the dialogue," Goodell said. "I wish we had the benefit of that. We never did. And we would've benefited from that, absolutely."

Goodell also said that players kneeling is "not about the flag" and that their intentions are being "mischaracterized."