Sure there were pockets of politics. But nothing close to what we see now. Even though it's clear that most people don't want to hear anymore about kneeling, it's front and center every day in the media for weeks now. The media will not LET it drop, because it's an agenda. It's designed to keep people angry, so that they can be pandered to and promised solutions that NEVER materialize.
It wasn't like what we see now because they didn't have 24 hours of TV time to fill and politicians hadn't figured out if you tell people the other side is evil and wants to destroy America that you can get them to do whatever you want and believe everything you say.
And on the same note about not letting it drop, an agenda, pandering, etc. why do you think the president keeps tweeting about God and guns and veterans and the flag?