Whether you like him or not, Donald Trump has conjured strong opinions about himself in the country since the day he announced his run for President. Many embraced his no-nonsense straight talk method and others were utterly repulsed. Either way, people generally have strong feelings for Mr. Trump and it is no different in the professional sports world as well. The NFL has been divided since Trump became the Republican nominee and many have taken the opportunity to show their support for Trump.
According to The Bleacher Report:
Six months ago, Rex Ryan stood before a roaring crowd in Buffalo and gave a pep talk. This was not an unfamiliar scene for the Bills head coach, except for maybe the suit and tie. Well, that and the subject of his four-minute speech: Donald J. Trump.
“There’s so many things I admire about Mr. Trump, but one thing I really admire about him is—you know what—he’ll say what’s on his mind,” Ryan said. “And so many times, you’ll see people—a lot of people—want to say the same thing. But there’s a big difference: They don’t have the courage to say it. They all think it, but they don’t have the courage to say it. And Donald Trump certainly has the courage to say it.”
Back in the Bills locker room, however, Ryan’s staff was less impressed with the Republican candidate for president—and that their boss was backing him. A Bills player said when he learned Ryan had spoken at Trump’s rally, he simply couldn’t believe it. “Rex is such an open-minded guy, a really good person,” said the player, who asked not to be identified, fearing repercussions from the Bills. “But the fact he could back someone as closed-minded as Trump genuinely shocked me.”
The player, who is black, emphasized that teammates’ frustration with their coach’s public endorsement was not universal. But in private discussions, he said, “Some of the African-American players on the team weren’t happy about Rex doing that.”
Indeed, said another black player on the Bills who requested anonymity to speak freely about tensions swirling with a combination of protests led by Colin Kaepernick and a combustible candidate: “I see Trump as someone who is hostile to people of color, and the fact that Rex supports him made me look at him completely differently, and not in a positive way.”
Ryan declined to comment, but at least one white Buffalo player—Richie Incognito, the offensive lineman notorious for a bullying scandal that included racial slurs and who has now become a force in the Bills clubhouse—insists that Trump’s winning message has resonated with NFL players like him.
“I think that he can help this nation get back to a world superpower,” Incognito told B/R Mag. “Where I think he could help is putting us first again and having that—it’s my mentality, too—having that tough attitude where you put America first and everyone’s thinking we’re the greatest nation in the world. Don’t mess with America. That toughness is where I identify with him.”
Interviews by B/R Mag with dozens of NFL players about Trump over the past four months reveal that scenes of a divided America sparked by the candidate have been replicated inside at least a half-dozen locker rooms of its most popular sport. Some players cite low-level confrontations. Others say friendships have ended. Many see a toughness that could cross political boundaries and a business acumen that’s attractive to the likes of Tom Brady, only for the candidate’s racial bluster to spark more outrage. At least one coach has insisted there be no more player discussions of Trump—not a ban on politics in general, just Trump—while on team property.
Four weeks into the NFL season and four weeks from Election Day, amid an increasingly politicized league confronting on-field protests every Sunday, a straw poll of 43 players by B/R Mag shows:
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20 of 22 black NFL players plan to vote for Hillary Clinton.
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2 of 22 black NFL players plan to vote for Donald J. Trump.
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21 of 21 white NFL players plan to vote for Trump.
The informal survey is in no way scientific—there are some 1,600 players in the NFL—but compare those numbers to recent national polling, and the NFL locker room electorate starts to look at lot like America:
