The NFL should be ready for the return of former President Donald Trump

We sadly interrupt this usually fun moment on the NFL calendar, as teams return to their buildings for training camps, to ask a tough question that may have stuck in our collective minds, one we did our best to keep. asleep yet.

What follows is not a political endorsement or ideological finger pointing. We are not paraphrasing the previous term or delving into issues of ethics. There will be plenty of time and space for that later.

Rather, it is a matter of readiness and fitness. It’s a question for coaches, general managers, player agents and – largely – team owners. What did we learn from 2016 to 20? Suppose everyone gets a free pass and that no Republican, Democrat, or Freak Power party member can predict what the world will take under a Trump presidency.

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Is the NFL ready for the return of Donald Trump?

Can the league ensure that it will never again be a quivering fish trying to protect itself from the open mouth of a passing shark, Like when it changed the national anthem policy following criticism from the former president? During Trump’s campaign and presidency, he managed to convince supporters that the decline in TV ratings across the board (thanks to the rise of streaming services and other cable-cutting mechanisms) was evidence that fewer people were watching the NFL because of Colin Kaepernick. In fact, it was because of Trump and His speech is now infamous In which he pleaded with NFL owners to fire kneeling players, saying, “Get AB’s son off the field now. Out! He’s kicked. He’s kicked!” It was definitely a sleight of hand. It was also a successful tool to promote his cause and stoke his base.

We’re 103 days away from the midterm elections, which means we’re just footsteps from the start of yet another charged bit of defamation, and Trump is sure to be on the campaign trail for his most wanted candidates. We will amplify every controversy issue imaginable. We will be told that if you believe in X, you cannot vote for Y, and so forth. We will discuss global conflict, public health and safety, women’s rights, the economy, gas prices, immigration, racial inequality, and the status of our country as a free and just society. All of these issues will be meticulously misrepresented and distilled for us by our favorite news outlets, leaving us in the public octagon ready to throw up hands.

Kaepernick’s silent protest against racial inequality and police brutality became a national flashpoint.

Theron W. Henderson / Getty Images

NFL players have become a vehicle for discussion, awareness, and teamwork, all of which surprised some teams six years ago. I remember speaking to one of the coaches who was afraid the players would protest during the national anthem, not because of any ideological difference, but because there was nothing they could do to protect the players if the owner of the team wanted them gone. The temperature in the team’s facilities was higher than we understood at the time.

If we remember correctly, there was a lot of embarrassment. Before teams get hesitant, corporate style Partners for various progressive causesThey ranged from outright obstruction or strategic ignorance of any action likely to lead to division.

Pointing out that President Joe Biden and former President Trump differ in style should not be controversial. Indeed, Biden pinned his campaign hopes on a presidency that would rein in the noise rather than amplify it. His only short shoulder brush with the NFL so far came from a mockery about Aaron Rodgers’ vaccination status, which Rodgers loudly criticized in Pre-match interview with ESPN. Nor should it be controversial to point out that Trump, more than any president in recent history, is withdrawing from the world of pop culture in an effort to help him make more relevant points. This is how Kaepernick’s silent protest against racial inequality and police brutality became a national flashpoint, as Trump used the demonstration as a way to promote a campaign that would frame your opinion of law enforcement tactics and practices as a matter of good and evil, pro-state and anti-state.

While Kaepernick’s efforts have greatly softened the position of societyAthletes demonstrating, speaking out or raising awareness of issues are now commonplace – and they represent a small amount of success for Trump. Supposedly the owners were buried under the mountains of fan mail. Kaepernick became unsignable. idea Remove politics from sports– Which really means Remove the type of politics I don’t agree with from sports—became a popular battle cry.

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Although this tactic is not directly parallel, it appears to have become politically normative now (and perhaps, in a lesser sense, it has always been). Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is fighting DisneyStrongly in bed with the NFL as a content partner and owner of ESPN) because of its opposition to the state Parents’ rights in education– or “Don’t Say Guy” – in what is largely a culture war designed to appease voters in Trumpian fashion.

What can Trump hold now?

Sports are an important part of the former president’s daily life and consumption habits. Despite pleas from the families of 9/11 victims, Trump spent the past week praising LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed company looking to break up the PGA and steal all of its top talent, and urged PGA Tour players to take the startup’s money before the inevitable. merger.

The rhetoric will only get hotter the closer we get to November 8th, and the closer Trump gets to returning to mainstream social media and dominating the daily news cycle, Especially if he decides to run for president in 24. in the past months, Congressional investigation with owner leaders Daniel Snyder It turned into an outright political scene, as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked by Republican senators about the fine for the team’s defensive coordinator. jack del rio To refer to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, as a “flick,” and about the NFL banning Barristol Sports founder Dave Portnoy from covering its events. (Goodl said he wasn’t aware of the latter problem.)

The NFL is a very popular microcosm of society, which means that our problems within these walls are a copy of the problems the country faces in general. There are high-profile cases of racial inequality making their way through the courts in relation to the NFL, via Brian Flores suit. Trump could find sympathy for Raw similarly John Gruden, who saw his coaching career end due to leaked documents revealing racist and anti-LGBT language. (Trump has repeatedly raised the issue of leaked documents and sayings in meetings during his presidency, apparently believing that the leaks and not the content of the leaked materials were the problem.) The NFL is investigating credible accusations of falling apart amid gambling bliss, and we all know how much the former president enjoyed the reference. to an institution he finds “forged”.

Player protests became common after Trump called on owners to fire kneeling players.

David E. Klotho / Sports Illustrated

In 2020, the owner of Falcons, Arthur Blank, topped all the other owners Over $1.1 million in donations Turning to democratic issues. Trump’s financial support has diminished significantly compared to the 2016 election cycle, as retired Raiders guarded by Richie Incognito personally donated roughly the same amount to the outgoing president ($11,549) as most other NFL members combined ($14,738).

This certainly does not protect the NFL from any criticism. Trump has been and always will be a confrontational businessman. If he was looking at the league against him, he wouldn’t hesitate to drag him into this culture war.

We often wonder if the NFL is evil, incompetent, or perhaps still incredibly surprised and unable to absorb its huge reach within the community. The last of the three may be true, given the league’s persistent inability to see beyond financial recourse to its actions. The NFL rarely heeds the warnings. However, Trump’s rise is another real quick bump (others are player concussions and domestic violence) for the league amid his massive ascent to the American Sports Monolith. What happens, after two years of strategic planning with a broader political network, a major party supporting his every move and a political war fund larger than Both Republican and Democratic parties?