Trump’s Friday night diatribe about the NFL brought a divided league together. But will it last?
Last Friday night President Trump took aim at the NFL and its players. Trump said his remarks about players’ protests had “nothing to do with race.” Trump then compared disrespect coming from the NFL to respect coming from NASCAR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kg8FoYE1lc
Trump’s attack on the NFL may have unified a disunited league — at least for a day. Only six players engaged in public protests in Week 2. Over 200 players participated in Week 3.
Sunday’s response was notable. “Empty sidelines in Nashville and Chicago. Jacksonville owner Shahid Khan standing arm in arm with his players,” Nancy Armour wrote in USA Today. “The Miami Dolphins wearing “I’m With Kap” T-shirts during warm-ups. Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis eloquently explaining his change of heart about players protesting during the national anthem.” Even Tom Brady and Robert Kraft–two strong supporters of the president–rebuked Trump for what he said.
Baltimore Ravens players, including former player Ray Lewis, second from right, kneel down during the playing of the U.S. national anthem before an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London, Sunday Sept. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Trump’s outspokenness isn’t restricted to commentaries about sports, of course. It’s his shtick, the meat-and-potatoes of his politics. It was the NFL’s turn to be in the bullseye.
But something else–important and different–happened in response to Trump’s incursion, two things to be specific. First, many NFL owners–people who have supported Trump politically and financially–called him out. Second, NFL owners took a leadership stand–the very same owners who have sidestepped taking stands on a variety of other issues facing the NFL.
Is Sunday a one-off occurrence? Or has NFL leadership turned a corner?
My bet is that it’s more the former, less the latter. Why? I think another dynamic is at work. Insiders (in this case the NFL) responded collectively and negatively to an outsider’s strident rhetoric (Trump).
We’ll see whether Sunday’s stance translates into something more. If it does, then Trump–in a bizarre and unintended way–will have become a catalyst for progressive change.
