PHILADELPHIA — As the N.F.L. began a new season Thursday night, many things were unchanged.
The home fans of the Philadelphia Eagles, among the league’s most vociferous, crammed into every available seat here at Lincoln Financial Field, where they cheered through a pregame ceremony of fireworks and fight songs. After a layoff of seven months, pro football was unquestionably being welcomed back by a crowd in full throat.
And, just as familiar, almost exactly a year after N.F.L. players’ protests during the national anthem — to raise awareness of racial and social injustice — exploded into a polarizing political debate, thousands of eyes once again scanned the sidelines to see if anyone in uniform was kneeling, sitting or gesturing during the playing of the anthem.