The NFL once cowered before Trump. Now it has a chance to stand for something.

Three years ago, a president who has shown little love and respect for the military weaponized love and respect for the military to scare a league uncomfortable with its protesting players and muddle a conversation that should have been about excessive police force and systemic oppression. And President Trump’s phony act worked. It worked because the NFL exhibited neither the leadership nor the chin to support a social stance.

But this disruptive year has given the league an unexpected gift: a do-over. It amounts to social amnesty for those who previously suffered from racial indifference. Multiple forces have combined to change the climate and put the NFL in a much stronger position to do the right thing this time.

Even the timing of last week’s story in the Atlantic detailing Trump’s derogatory remarks about American soldiers — later confirmed in part by The Washington Post — worked in the NFL’s favor. Days before the start of the 2020 season, the president’s pet NFL insult — that players who kneel during the national anthem disrespect our troops and flag — lost what was left of its sting. The league is further buoyed by evidence of a significant shift in American attitudes about race, police brutality and athlete activism.

Trump will keep barking, but after various reports that he referred to American soldiers as “suckers” and “losers,” his role as chief football antagonist has been compromised. It frees the NFL to stop compromising its humanity and live up to Commissioner Roger Goodell’s pledge to be better.

After Colin Kaepernick took a knee to protest racial injustice four years ago, the NFL blew a chance to be a vanguard for demanding change. It would be wise not to squander this do-over. The right thing is also the safe, reactionary and pacifying thing now. It’s the popular thing, too.

According to a new Post poll, 56 percent of Americans consider it appropriate for athletes to protest inequality by kneeling during the national anthem. That’s up from 43 percent who approved of such protests in a 2018 NBC-Wall Street Journal poll asking the same question. In addition, 62 percent of Americans say it’s fine for athletes to contribute their influence to social causes.

Now that the league and its owners don’t seem so obtuse, there is hope for an elevated level of discourse this NFL season. It’s less risky and much wiser to align with the heartbreaking concerns of a predominantly African American workforce. During this tragic summer, peers from other leagues — most notably the WNBA and NBA — already have walked the path toward empathy. The NFL need only follow the footsteps and move forward with conviction.

Still, there are a few problems that seem like land mines. The owners don’t completely get what Goodell has signed them up for by admitting past wrongs and finally supporting players as they protest injustice, and it means they can’t be trusted, especially in a season in which revenue will be down. Just as challenging, the league has diverse factions of fans who are hard to unite on trivial matters, let alone on something this important.

The NFL can make almost any other U.S. sports league seem like a niche operation. For better or worse, the NFL is America. It is our sporting passion because it mirrors the nation in so many ways, right down to what raging men are willing to do to earn chalked-up real estate.

So when football interacts with society, it becomes a battleground, not an idyllic cocoon. Bring social issues onto this field, and they have the potential to rip up the widest cross-section of people — and make you question the worth of doing so. The NBA-led sports walkout caused a commotion, but that league is emboldened by an understanding of its core audience: people with a progressive mind-set, deep connection to African Americans, strong international appeal. Although the NBA still has a broad viewership, it pales in comparison to the demographics that fuel the NFL, a behemoth that aims to captivate every American.

White men make up the largest percentage of any sports audience, and therefore the NFL knows it must cater to their tastes. At the center of every decision is contemplation of their collective tolerance. Their preferences are diverse, of course. But worrying how to make most of them comfortable means arriving at some lowest common denominator and then making the rest of the audience feel as if that is the undeniable standard.

For all his character flaws and foolishness, Trump understands every dimension of this concept. That is how, since 2017, he has been able to scare NFL owners into acting like morons bumbling on the wrong side of history.

Of all the things that could have moved these owners — Black people, no older than the players, dying in the streets; star athletes crying into microphones; former Green Beret Nate Boyer advising Kaepernick to take a knee during the anthem instead of sitting down as a gesture of respect — what mattered most were the taunts of a trolling president.

Trump was the only one who spoke their language. Until George Floyd’s terrifying death went viral, it failed to bother owners that they earn ludicrous money off the backs of Black bodies, yet they have little concern about their players’ lived experiences. Their paychecks, some of them massive, came with an unofficial ownership disclaimer: Don’t whine to me about equality.

When Trump engaged with NFL owners — at least nine of whom have been major contributors to committees tied to his inauguration and election efforts — he knew the vulnerability of the target. He made them look intolerant and feckless. They just wanted to be agnostic and count their money.

Trump has gone after many sports figures and institutions during a bizarre presidency defined by conflict. Some ignored him. Most shouted back and moved on. The NFL was the only group that panicked and begged for mercy.

If Trump called them suckers and losers, he wouldn’t need to worry about backlash.

But all is different now in the most inextricably American of all sports leagues. The NFL must capitalize on the second chance. This season is a referendum on how much owners have learned since their Kaepernick blackballing days began. And despite how much the country seems to understand — or at least tolerate — protests, the reaction will intensify this month because everything is bigger and more cumbersome when it involves pro football.

For the sport to make a convincing case that it cares about more than its bottom line, it must advance from unsteady to unwavering. Even if it has the purest motives, it will be a difficult transformation. Brace for a treacherous but revealing journey.

We’re familiar with how well the NFL handles peerless domination. But this is a classic old sports redemption tale. It helps if the owners recognize they have some redeeming to do.