Sports & Politics Intersect: Trump finds fertile battleground in sports

"They were very much aware, that that statement, when attempted to be made in part of the recognition of our flag, can not only lead to criticism, but also controversy," Jones told the media. "It was real easy for everybody in our organization to see that the message of unity, the message of equality was getting pushed aside by the controversy."

There was, of course, backlash to the backlash, and it came from both sides. Fans siding with Trump burned jerseys and season tickets. Some even got DirecTV to refund them for cancelled NFL Sunday Ticket subscriptions. On the flip side, others called out the NFL for not calling out Trump sooner. One of the loudest voices in this second camp was Shannon Sharpe, former NFL player and current on air personality for Fox Sports.

"[What] we know about, above all else, those 32 men, and the commissioner, will protect that ‘NFL Shield’ at all costs, against all foreign and domestic," Sharpe said on Monday of the NFL team owners.   

"President Trump had to find that out the hard way. They've allowed him to attack so many groups in America. It wasn't until he came for one of 32, and 1,600 men, and only a handful, only a handful of them, Skip, have ever kneeled in protest."

As we go into Week 4, it's clear that national anthem-related demonstrations will continue to be front and center. Prior to Thursday night's game against the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said that his team would lock arms during the "Star Spangled Banner," and invited fans to do the same. Sure enough, some present at Lambeau Field did what Rodgers asked of them, but the majority did not and Rodgers expressed disappointment with some of the negativity that was shouted from the stands during the anthem. 

What's becoming less obvious is why they're doing it. 

"This is about unity and love and growing together as a society, and starting a conversation around something that may be a little bit uncomfortable for people," Rodgers told USA Today. 

Not included in Rodger's statement were any mentions of police brutality and accountability, the very reasons Kaepernick started kneeling in the first place. 

- Fidel Martinez

“Because the people run this country. Not one individual. And damn sure not him.” - LeBron James on President Donald Trump

President Donald Trump rescinded his invitation to the Golden State Warriors to visit the White House via Twitter on September 23. “Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team,” the president began. “Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!” The 45th President of the United States, amid natural disasters, international conflict with North Korea and an unresolved health insurance bill, took time out of his day to tweet about basketball because Stephen Curry had a vote. 

The Warriors point guard sat down with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols and let her know that when the team voted on whether they would attend the White House as many championship teams have done in the past, he would vote against the trip. “We have an opportunity to send a statement that hopefully encourages unity, that encourages us to just appreciate what it means to be American and stand for something,” Curry said about not visiting the White House. 

President Trump’s comments about the Warriors and his comments at a rally in Alabama, where he used profanity to describe protesting NFL players, led to players around the NBA to respond directly to the Commander-in-Chief. LeBron James kicked things off with a tweet calling Trump a “bum,” but got into a lot more detail about how he felt about the president’s recent comments.

“I’m not going to let, while I have this platform, one individual, no matter the power, no matter the impact that he or she should have use sport as a platform to divide us,” James told reporters during his media day presser. James also went into more detail about his tweet and how he didn’t appreciate how Trump is trying to use sports as a means to divide in a Twitter video. 

Several other players either addressed the Trump news in their respective media pressers or on Twitter. John Wall talked about how non-Black NFL stars need to step up to evoke change. J.J. Redick said, “I’m about as anti-Trump as you can get.” Chris Paul questioned the president’s priorities while Draymond Green wondered how he’s still in office. Kobe Bryant took some time to let everyone know that Trump “can’t possibly Make America Great Again.” 

Some of the more pointed responses came from two of the NBA’s most respected head coaches. Steve Kerr addressed the White House visit issue by saying, “I think we would, in normal times, very easily be able to set aside political differences, go visit and have a good time. But these are not ordinary times. Probably the most divisive times of my live, I’d guess since Vietnam when I was a kid. Because of the differences in this country, the president made it really, really difficult for us to honor that institution.”

Gregg Popovich touched on the idea of white privilege and understanding why these protests are happening: “[...] people have to be made to feel uncomfortable. And especially white people, because we’re comfortable. We still have no clue of what being born white means. And if you read some of the recent literature, you’ll see that there really is no such thing as whiteness, we made it up. It’s like you’re at the 50-meter mark in a 100-yard dash and you’ve got that kind of a lead. Yes, because you were born white. You have advantages that are systemically, culturally, psychologically there – and they’ve been built up and cemented for hundreds of years.”

With the NBA gearing up for the beginning of its season, the WNBA is in its final leg with the Finals in process, and the players in the WNBA have been incredibly vocal about their distaste for the political climate and the police brutality around the country. During the national anthem of Games 1 and 2, the Los Angeles Sparks stayed in the locker room while the Minnesota Lynx locked arms as a showing of unity. 

Essence Carson of the Sparks spoke about why the team chose to stay in the locker room. "Everyone's so focused on the flag,” Carson told TMZ. “It's not even about the flag. It's about racial equality, criminal justice reform, police brutality and everything along those lines and I feel like people are forgetting that." 

Earlier this month, the entire Indiana Fever roster kneeled during the anthem. Head coach Stephanie White told her team, “I’m proud of y’all for doing that together as a team. That’s big,” in a huddle after the anthem. 

The players in the WNBA have been at it for some time now. SB Nation goes into detail about all of the player protests that began July 9 of last year when four members of the Minnesota Lynx wore shirts that read “Change Starts With Us” in a protest after the killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. 

If the president continues to make social commentary about what’s going on in the world of sports, it’s going to be increasingly more difficult for players to stick to them as they’re often asked to do. The political climate of the country affects these players every bit as much as it affects the fans, and long gone are the days that we can avoid these very issues by turning on the game. 

- Phillip Barnett 

Of Note

• The reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins defended their announcement that they will keep to tradition with the customary White House visit, a decision which was praised by the president via Twitter. However, while the fan base has been divided about the impending visit, it was met with backlash from local and national media. Former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque called the Penguins’ decision an embarrassment, adding while he understood that hockey typically leans more conservative versus other sports, “this is the last place the Stanley Cup should be.”

• Earlier in the week, San Jose Sharks forward Joel Ward said that he may consider kneeling during the national anthem. One of about 30 players of black descent in the NHL, Ward spoke of the racism he endured on and off the ice as well as in both the United States and his native Canada. However, in a lengthy Twitter post on Thursday, Ward explained his decision to not take a knee.

• Oakland A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell became the first player in Major League Baseball to kneel during the anthem. The rookie backstop, who criticized the President for disparaging NFL players via social media, cited his upbringing – from a military family, dealing with racism while growing up in rural Alabama – for why he knelt. Maxwell told reporters that “my kneeling is what’s getting the attention, and I’m kneeling for the people who don’t have a voice.”

• NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., tweeted his support for the protests. He added a quote from the late President John F. Kennedy, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” However, some team owners, including racing legend Richard Petty, stated that they would not condone the protests, earning praise from Trump on Twitter.

• It was a return to writing for ESPN’s Jemele Hill as the former columnist and current SportsCenter host provided commentary for The Undefeated where she spoke about “doing the right thing’’ after her controversial tweets calling the president “a white supremacist.”

• With the state of Connecticut currently operating without a budget, UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma has offered to coach without pay next season. A Republican-backed budget was passed by the state senate which would make substantial cuts to the school, but Democratic Governor Daniel Malloy plans to veto the bill. Auriemma is due to make over $2 million for the 2017-18 season.

• Senator Peyton Manning? It’s possible, according to Republican congressman Scott DesJarlais. The Tennessee representative told Business Insider that the future Hall of Fame quarterback – who played at the University of Tennessee in the mid-1990s – could potentially run in 2020 as a replacement for Lamar Alexander should he choose to retire. The state’s other Senator, Bob Corker, is retiring next year.

• The Oakland Raiders may stay put through 2020 while waiting for their new home in Las Vegas to be built. Officials in Clark County have been wrangling with multiple concerns, including a sharing agreement with UNLV, parking and transportation access, and assessing community benefits. As a result, the Raiders may possibly extend their lease at Oakland Coliseum, which expires after the 2018 season.

• The United States Olympic Committee will convene next month to discuss possibly bidding for either the 2026 or 2030 Winter Olympics, with interests from Denver, Reno/Lake Tahoe and Salt Lake City, which hosted the Winter Games in 2002. One of the major factors in the USOC’s decision-making will be how bidding efforts will impact preparation for the 2028 Summer Olympics, which were recently awarded to Los Angeles.

• NHL commissioner Gary Bettman blames Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi for the halted plans to build a new arena for the Calgary Flames. The league’s top executive said it was a theoretical conversation between the two that led him to believe that the city would not support funding a new venue to replace the Saddledome. Negotiations between the city and the Flames were dropped earlier in the week.

• Robert Kraft has struggled in making a deal to build a new home for the New England Revolution, but perhaps Rhode Island provides a different option. The founding MLS franchise struggles to fill the 70,000-seat Gillette Stadium, which it shares with the New England Patriots. Kraft has been unable to reach deals with local officials for a home in the immediate Boston vicinity.

• For the first time, the majority of Americans approve of legalized gambling. Fifty-five percent of Americans would be fine with betting on pro sports, a shift from 25 years ago when Congress passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which banned gambling across the country with some exceptions. The Supreme Court will soon hear arguments on New Jersey’s efforts to legalize gambling in the state.

• Championship parades costs money. The Golden State Warriors reluctantly had to foot the bill for their most recent parade in Oakland. Disagreements arose between the city and the team about itemized payments for both last spring’s parade and the 2015 celebration, with a report claiming that the team owed over $1 million to the city.

• The Texas Rangers officially broke ground on their new stadium, with local officials and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on hand. The Rangers plan to move out of the open-air Globe Life Park and into Globe Life Field, which will have a retractable roof among other amenities, in 2020.

- Jason Clinkscales