The undisclosed settlement ends a grievance filed by Kaepernick and former teammate Eric Reid that claimed NFL teams colluded to blacklist them. The resolution could end an ugly chapter for the league, which had been rocked by presidential meddling, boycotts and lower television ratings in recent seasons.

“If you ask fans the No. 1 reason they didn’t watch or attend games, the top reason was because of the kneeling controversy,” said sports agent Leigh Steinberg of Newport Beach, California. “This year the ratings came back up because there was no kneeling controversy. Part of the settlement is to keep that momentum going and not continue with this issue.”…

Los Angeles activist Najee Ali of the group Project Islamic Hope led a two-season boycott of local NFL teams over the kneeling controversy, but he said Friday he’ll return to attending and watching Rams games now that the case is settled.

“Mission accomplished,” he said.