NEW YORK—Calling on the nation to honor the sacrifices of African American civil rights leaders, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell insisted Tuesday that Martin Luther King Jr. would have wanted to see a 17-game football season and stadiums open to fans. “I quote the good Dr. King when I say, ‘Playing a full 17-week football season with paying fans will heal the nation,’” said Goodell, who claimed that the true injustice after all this unrest would be subjecting the nation to the same old 16-game season without any concession sales. “When Martin Luther was marching from Selma, he was dreaming of a world where people of all colors would be free to collect ad revenue on a full slate of live NFL games without government oppression. He spoke for us all when he said life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘Are You Ready For Some Football?’” Goodell ended his speech by saying that if a class-action concussion lawsuit were to be allowed against the NFL, then leaders like King and Malcolm X would have died in vain.