Another election cycle, another member of the San Francisco 49ers interjecting into the NFL season with their political views.
Only this time around, star pass rusher Nick Bosa is showing his support for Donald Trump, whereas, in 2016, quarterback Colin Kaepernick was kneeling in protest of police brutality. And former NFL star Ryan Clark wants the same energy from the media for Bosa as it had for Kaepernick.
After a Sunday Night Football win in Week 8, Bosa interrupted NBC’s postgame interviews to flash a “Make America Great Again” hat. Asked about the stunt during a press conference later in the night, Bosa denied the chance to elaborate on his views, only saying this election is an “important time.”
Since then, the story has mostly gone away.
That led Clark, in an episode of his podcast The Pivot, to call out what he sees as a discrepancy between Bosa being ignored by national news media and the way in which Kaepernick was vilified in 2016.
“I also think it’s sort of ironic this happens in San Francisco, where Colin Kaepernick legitimately lost his career … because he said, ‘I want to make America a better place for people like us,'” Clark said. “And so I do think that the ‘shut up and dribble’ thing that always is told to the LeBron Jameses when he speaks up against police brutality, to the Colin Kaepernicks when he speaks up against police brutality … it only seems to go to the athletes that look like us, to the people that are speaking for the marginalized and the minorities as opposed to the majorities.”
Clark also expressed his thoughts on the MAGA movement and what he believes Bosa stands for when he wears that hat on national television.
In particular, Clark described the challenge of connecting with Trump supporters as a Black former athlete and not seeing them as racist. That is evidently easier said than done for The Pivot host and ESPN analyst. Coming at it as an athlete, Clark said he has a hard time accepting Bosa’s position when the locker room is supposed to be a “melting pot” where athletes support one another.
“It seems very clear to me Nick Bosa understands that when you wear that hat, you take a side,” Clark said. “You take a side of division in a sport that’s supposed to bring us together. I’m just waiting for all the people who comment under political and sports things to shut up and dribble or to shut up and play football, to tell him to shut up and rush. But they ain’t going to say it cuz they feel the exact same way he do.”
The phrase “shut up and dribble” was popularized by Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who used the phrase toward James after he criticized Trump in 2018.
In Clark’s view, that standard is unevenly applied. Clark believes that because conservative media agrees with Bosa, there won’t be any backlash to him bringing politics to the football field.
Ingraham’s track record suggests he’s right. In 2020, James himself pointed out Ingraham’s hypocrisy on X when the political commentator defended Drew Brees over his views on NFL players “disrespecting” the U.S. by kneeling during the anthem.
Still, even though Bosa and Kaepernick played for the same franchise, the situations are different. Kaepernick was consistent and vocal about his issues with law enforcement and the criminal justice system in this country. Bosa may have saved himself from much pushback by refusing to go deeper.
[The Pivot Podcast on YouTube]
