In the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the N.F.L., a league that has wrestled with racial issues for years, has shown unusual unity. Players, coaches, league officials and owners have expressed sadness, remorse and a commitment to seek solutions to police violence against African-American people and other forms of social injustice.

Yet the specter of Colin Kaepernick still looms large over any conversation of football and race. As the league grapples with next steps to take, many players say that the N.F.L. must address Kaepernick, who in 2016 began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality toward African-Americans, if its newfound progressive stance is to be viewed as legitimate.

“It’s definitely a different social climate now and I’m praying it’s not going to be lip service,” said Chris Conley, a wide receiver on the Jacksonville Jaguars who helped organize a march of players, coaches, staff and their families from the team’s stadium to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office last week. “A lot of balls were dropped in 2016 and people realized things could have been handled better. There’s a feeling we didn’t do enough last time.”

Seattle Seahawks running back Carlos Hyde told reporters Monday, “If they sign Kap back, it’ll show they are really trying to move in a different direction, because Kap was making a statement four years ago about what’s going on in today’s world and the N.F.L. didn’t bother to listen to him then.”

After opting out of his contract and finding no team willing to sign him, Kaepernick in 2019 won a multimillion-dollar settlement of his claim that the league blackballed him because of his protests. In November, the league organized a tryout for Kaepernick that ended in a dispute over the ground rules. Kaepernick held his own workout for a half dozen N.F.L. scouts, but no team offered him a contract.

But when Commissioner Roger Goodell said last week in a video statement that the N.F.L. was wrong not to listen to players and encourage those who were protesting, he did not name Kaepernick. Until he does, players say the league’s efforts to fight the issues he raised will be viewed as insincere.

“They should mention him,” said Devin McCourty, a safety on the New England Patriots and a member of the Players Coalition. “This was the one guy who did something, and when you came out and talked about peaceful protest, it started with one guy.”

Other players want more than an apology — they want a team to sign Kaepernick. Malcolm Jenkins, a safety on the New Orleans Saints, this week called for the league to apologize and assign Kaepernick to a team. That will be tricky, requiring a coach and team owner willing to absorb the inevitable news media attention that would follow and even potential criticism from President Trump, who has reiterated that players should stand for the anthem.

“Is there an N.F.L. owner willing to take the chance and break ranks?” said Charles K. Ross, the director of the African-American Studies program at Ole Miss and the author of “Outside the Lines: African Americans and the Integration of the N.F.L.” “I know N.F.L. owners are really focused on playing football, but there are some larger issues at stake.”

Recognizing Kaepernick is seemingly the only concrete action that has widespread agreement among players. With momentum built, less fear of reprisal from owners, the league or fans, and an unusual amount of time away from the field because of stay-at-home restrictions, players want to get more involved in societal change. The only question is: What’s next?

Some want to double down on the many initiatives already established. In 2019, the league started a program called Inspire Change that directs millions of dollars in donations to groups focused on “police-community relations, criminal justice reform, and education and economic advancement.” On Thursday, the N.F.L. said it was nearly tripling the size of its commitment to the program, pledging to spend up to $250 million over 10 years. (The league has already distributed $44 million.) Goodell announced in a memo on Friday that the league would observe Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in America, this year, closing its offices on June 19.

The Players Coalition, which split progressive players when it began in 2017, has drawn widening support for justice reform measures in recent months. Quarterback Tom Brady, who has been friends with Donald Trump for many years, last month added his name to the group\'s call for Attorney General William P. Barr to investigate the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. The Players Coalition amassed 1,400 signatures to a letter urging Congress to pass a bill that would end qualified immunity for public officials, including police officers. The signees included quarterback Drew Brees, who last week reversed course on his condemnation of players protesting during the national anthem.

Players on other teams have focused on increasing their work on the local level, through their teams’ social justice committees. The Minnesota Vikings, for instance, have in the past accompanied students to Washington, D.C., to visit the Holocaust Museum and the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, and work with All Square, a group in Minneapolis that helps people leaving jail find work.

On Wednesday the team announced that it had established a college scholarship in George Floyd’s name for African-American students, helped clean neighborhoods hit by destructive protests and met with the city’s police chief. Ameer Abdullah, a running back on the team, on Wednesday told reporters that he expected players to encourage citizens to vote in the presidential elections in November.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who took part in a player-led video that pushed the N.F.L. to support their protest and include “Black Lives Matter” messaging in its statement, said he and his teammates would meet next week to come up with ways to increase voter registration. He said they wanted to “get as many people registered to vote so they can go and try to affect change in every way they feel possible.”

Others players, including some on the Denver Broncos and the Jaguars, have attended protests. Justin Simmons, a safety on the Broncos, encouraged a crowd in downtown Denver on Saturday to discuss the racism African-Americans face, no matter how uncomfortable.

“We as a black community need our white brothers and sisters to explain to the rest of the white brothers and sisters out there what it means for black lives to matter,” Simmons said. “It doesn’t matter your platform, your sphere of influence in your life — the people around you matter. Those are tough conversations to have, but they need to be had.”

In some cases, team owners have supported the players and their initiatives. But Devin McCourty said players must find their own solutions and not rely on the N.F.L., which has its own agenda.

“I truly believe the N.F.L. is public-opinion based and puts out statements to make the public happy,” he said. “You didn’t see them support the players in 2016 because it wouldn’t make someone happy. Now, the question is how involved they are.”

Jason McCourty, his twin brother and teammate, said the best thing the league could do was not stand in the way of the players.

“At the end of the day, allowing players to use their platforms is enough,” he said. “When it comes to big businesses, they will do the things that will keep them making money. It comes down to the players.”

The McCourty brothers have raised millions of dollars to help families fighting sickle-cell anemia and lobbied lawmakers in Massachusetts to reform the state’s juvenile penal system. Devin McCourty’s support for Boston Uncornered, an organization that helps people involved in gangs go to college, got a lift from Robert and Jonathan Kraft, the owners of the Patriots, who donated $100,000 to the group.

The brothers said they did not expect every player to be as involved as they are. But participation takes many forms.

“For some guys, it might be adding your name to a petition or sending a letter,” Devin said.

Coach Bill O’Brien of the Houston Texans, a team whose late owner was a critic of protests during the national anthem, plans to kneel with players when the games begin. Other stars not known for their activism have also been taking action. Dak Prescott, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, promised to give $1 million to improve police training and address racism through education. Matt Ryan, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, pledged $500,000 toward his goal of raising $2 million in donations. (So far, he has raised $1.2 million.) Ryan will meet with leaders in the African-American community in Atlanta to decide how the money can be best used.

“When you’re listening to players or the protesters, one of the messages that comes across is you can’t continue to be silent,” said Ryan, whose charitable efforts have mostly focused on supporting children’s hospitals. “I’m not sure of the solution, but I’m trying to rectify that.”