IT’S IN THE GAME
A brave citizen communicates with a deranged sleepy tyrant.
“We’re gonna have a good game. Things are going along very well. The country’s doing well. The Democrats have to open it up.”
These words were spoken by Trump live on air during the Lions vs. Commanders game in Virginia– home to thousands of federal employees who had faced layoffs and funding cuts since he took office. It was a late-afternoon matchup broadcast by FOX into millions of American homes.. Dear Leader was hosted in the press box for several minutes (though it felt like an eternity), where he rambled about playing football in high school and mused about plans for the new Commanders stadium, which he hopes will be named after him.
The 34-count convicted felon was at the game to show face for the NFL’s Salute to Service tribute ahead of Veteran’s Day. The Epstein associate was met with distinct boos from the crowd as he attempted to swear soldiers into service. Prior to kickoff, Air Force One flew over the stadium for the opening ceremony – a grand spectacle fit for a king.
All of this took place while the federal government was in the midst of its longest shutdown in U.S. history, which lasted 43 days. During that time, the Trump administration fired federal employees and illegally withheld funding for SNAP benefits, starving low income families and putting pressure on Democrats to end the shutdown. In other words: the NFL provided a platform to a criminally convicted president who, through government shutdown tactics, was jeopardizing the livelihoods of thousands for political gain.
Sportswashing – the use of major league sports events, teams, or athletes to “wash” the reputation or image of an unfavorable entity, is by no means a new phenomenon, nor is it unique to the United States. In fact, some of the most obscene examples in recent years have come from abroad: Qatar and FIFA during the 2022 World Cup; Formula 1, which routinely hosts races in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE; and China’s hosting of the 2022 Olympics. All are examples of nations using sports to deflect attention away from human rights abuses and mass oppression.
The magnitude, brutality, and media coverage of foreign atrocities have made any instances of sportswashing within the U.S seem harmless– if they're noticed at all. The most recent example (pre-Trump) came in the post- 9/11 era, when patriotism wrapped a flag around military glorification, the War on Terror, and the banner of national security. These ideals came at the cost of civil liberties and personal freedoms– a price white America was more than willing to pay.
The all-time perfect example of this can be found in Creed’s halftime performance during the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day game– just 2 months after 9/11. Words fail to capture this undefeated moment in rock-and-roll history, so here is the video
See!? We used to be a proper country, damnit. Jason Aldean could never pull that off. All we have now is a washed-up Kid Rock and this fucking guy.
We now find ourselves in an era where sportswashing has evolved into something darker and more sinister. Rather than using sports to cover up abuses, they are being used to usher in ideologies. Proponents of Christian nationalism, fascism, authoritarianism, and the broader MAGA movement are using major league sports as a vehicle to sanitize extremism on a massive scale. What makes this especially galling is recalling how the NFL reacted to the Colin Kaepernick controversy— a star player at the time —for taking a knee in protest of racial injustice and police brutality. The league effectively black-listed the quarterback, ending his career. Kaepernick later demonstrated in court that NFL teams had privately colluded to keep him off the field in fear of retaliation, and the NFL ultimately settled for more than $10 million without admitting guilt.
The social reaction was fucking insane. People swore off the NFL, boycotted games, harassed players who supported Kaepernick, and generated enough economic pressure to force the league and its owners to suppress activist initiatives and distance themselves from organizations tied to social justice work. And who was one of the loudest voices fueling that pushback? None other than the orange bitch himself.
Less than ten years later, the NFL has essentially platformed MAGA and Dear Leader while quietly winding down it’s anti-racism initiative, “Inspire Change.” Prominent players and owners have been openly vocal about their support– which they are entitled to– but it’s more than patriotism this time. Nick Bosa, for example, has been publicly aligned with MAGA since his college days. In 2016, he flaunted Trump apparel on social media, though he was self-aware enough to delete the posts after being drafted to a California-based team. Since then, he’s fully come out of the closet. After a 49ers victory, Bosa interrupted a teammate’s post-game interview by yelling into the camera and pointing to the MAGA hat he was wearing. Real subtle, douchebag.
As for ownership, the most blatant example came earlier this season, when numerous teams aired in-memoriam segments for Charlie Kirk following his assassination. Reports revealed that the White House had sent communications urging owners to honor the slain podcaster. I am actually shocked we haven’t seen the Cowboys or Jets name Erika Kirk an honorary captain at this point–her PR team has been on a roll lately.
This was so fucking weird.
Our Detroit Lions had recently been on my good side, as Ford Field did not feature any homage to Kirk. That run ended, as far as I’m concerned, when Amon-Ra St. Brown scored a touchdown and immediately performed the trump jerk-off dance. I had hoped that maybe he was mocking him, until I dug deeper and found that ARSB is associated with WeShare, a faith-based healthcare-sharing community powered by Unite Health Share Ministries, which is ideologically opposed to the Affordable Care Act. FUCKING COOL.
Conservatives will argue that these are harmless acts– that players and owners are free to do as they please. The same cross-bearing crowd that acted like Kaepernick 9/11ed their local dive bar sure knows how to defend free speech when it matches their ill-informed view of the world. Rage, I am forever your servant. The hypocrisy never ends with these morons.
I can’t sit here and pretend the NFL and its players should be the vanguard of democratic values; after all, the league is chock- full of rich assholes who cover up and downplay domestic violence, racism, and sexism with the best of them. And it’s not just the NFL. This year we have seen the MLB allow grifter merch on the field, the NHL welcome back a sexual predator (fuck you Vegas) fresh off a massive sexual abuse cover up, and numerous professional golfers proudly display their support for Trump as publicly as possible.
Zooming out, all of this capitulation follows a broader trend across the entertainment and broadcast industries: playing nice with a dictator in hopes he leaves you alone. Dear Leader wants his pedo-ass hands on as much of the pie as he can grab, and if we have learned anything from the past year, the NFL is sure as shit going to fall in line just like everyone else. Brace yourself for The Washington Commanders Trump Crypto-Dome, sponsored by Saudi Arabia and Palantir.
Again, politics mixing with sports is nothing new. Champion teams have visited the White House for years, and athletes have used their platform for various causes and patriotic gestures. But with MAGA, it feels different, dangerous, and toxic. The faux-Christian conservative movement continues to surface in every aspect of daily life, from the broadcast booth down to the field. I guess the silver lining is that Bad Bunny really irritates all the bigoted dipshits who think the country is in a great spot right now. Join me in memorizing his greatest hits just in time for Thanksgiving–we can drown out the ICE jokes at the dinner table with some Puerto Rican fire.
-Edited by E. Sullivan
