SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Civil Rights movement had Selma as a touchstone; the gay rights uprising took flight at the Stonewall Inn; and the N.F.L players’ campaign for social justice on Sunday had Levi’s Stadium as its epicenter. It was here last year that Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the playing of the national anthem in protest of racial oppression after several police shootings of black Americans.
On Sunday, it might as well have been Little Big Horn for the home team. The Dallas Cowboys’ 40-10 shellacking of the 49ers was the franchise’s worst defeat since 1980 and kept them winless for the seventh straight game.