By then, fans and others had rallied behind Bedoya’s sentiment, mounting an ultimately successful campaign to get him voted as the league’s player of the week.

Sunday’s game was broadcast on Fox Sports 1, and Bedoya’s message into the microphone, several of which are positioned around the field at every game to pick up the sounds of the action, could clearly be heard by viewers. It could not be heard in the stadium.

His sentiment was vague, which was understandable given its brevity. But Bedoya’s social media account already had made clear what kind of action he was seeking. Bedoya, the Union’s captain, had posted on Twitter earlier in the day about the weekend mass shootings that killed 29 people in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, saying, “We can start with stricter background checks, red flag laws, making a registry for gun purchases, closing gun show loopholes, and taxing ammunition.”

Though his on-field message was brief, it nonetheless caused a stir. While some athletes have been outspoken on political issues, and have taken actions as varied as kneeling during the anthem and wearing shirts with printed messages during pregame warm-ups, that activity has seldom taken place on the field of play during a game.

In extended postgame remarks, Bedoya reaffirmed his on-field comments. “It’s absurd, man,” he said. “I’m not going to sit idly and watch this stuff happen and not say something. Before I’m an athlete, a soccer player, I’m a human being first.”