The NFL would love stick to sports. And after fining Nick Bosa for wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat while crashing a Sunday Night Football postgame interview, they are encouraging their players to do the same.
The NFL had to deal with the controversy in the lead-up to the Presidential Election as Bosa, one of Trump’s most notable supporters in sports, showed up unexpectedly in a 49ers postgame interview on NBC. His action went against NFL rules about showing personal or political messages on gamedays.
For his stunt, Bosa was fined… but conveniently not until after the election that Trump won to earn a second trip to the White House. In delaying the fine, the NFL avoided stirring up the hornet’s nest just days before Election Day. And now the NFL is asking its players to please not put the league in the middle of political chaos once again.
Via Bloomberg:
In light of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the NFL sent a memo to teams reiterating its policy on not allowing personal messages, including political statements, to be displayed during game days, according to a memo reviewed by Bloomberg.
The requirement is part of a league rule that also bans references to non-football events and charitable causes that aren’t approved by the league. It covers when a player is visible to fans or a TV audience before, during and after a game. Infractions under this rule come with a fine of about $11,000 for the first offense.
Trump targeted the NFL (and 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick) frequently during his first go around in the White House as the league was at the center of the wider culture wars. You may also remember then Vice President Mike Pence (whatever happened to that guy?) attending an Indianapolis Colts game just to walk out after players knelt for the national anthem. Clearly the NFL does not want a repeat of those days and would rather stay politically neutral this time around. And that goes for players on all sides of the political spectrum.
As for Nick Bosa? Who knows. Given the way things are going he may be named to Donald Trump’s cabinet by the end of the week.
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