President Donald Trump has had an ongoing feud with the NFL since he entered office in January of 2017. It has been largely centered around protests by players who have demonstrated during the national anthem.
Super Bowl 2018: President Trump’s feud with the NFL explained
Trump has taken issue with players protesting during the national anthem over the course of the 2017 season.
Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Trump has made many statements about how he believes players should be standing for the national anthem out of respect to the flag, military, and country. The NFL protests began in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick first sat for the national anthem, before switching to kneeling.
Other players followed in Kaepernick’s footsteps, but the issue became larger in 2017 because of Trump.
Things came to a head when Trump called kneeling NFL players ‘sons of bitches’
At a rally in Huntsville, Ala., Trump spoke about the protests and declining ratings happening in the NFL. He suggested that players who were protesting during the national anthem should be removed from the field.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he’s fired!’ You know, some owner is going to do that. He’s gonna say, ‘That guy disrespects our flag, he’s fired.’ And that owner, they don’t know it. They don’t know it. They’re friends of mine, many of them. They don’t know it. They’ll be the most popular person, for a week. They’ll be the most popular person in the country.”
He also told the Alabama crowd, “We’re going to be like your football teams, we’re going to win all the time.”
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith responded the next morning with a now-deleted tweet that read, “We will never back down. We no longer can afford to stick to sports.”
The next day, he called on people to boycott the NFL.
Trump — as he often does — went to Twitter to rally his supporters and told them to boycott the NFL until players were either forced to stand, or “fired.”
His comments wouldn’t be met without rebuttal.
The NFL and NFLPA responded with statements.
Smith released a brief statement the following day (Saturday, Sept. 23):
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell also released a statement that was vague and mentioned “unity,” which became a buzzword used by NFL owners.
The NFLPA later released a longer statement, with Smith saying: “No man or woman should ever have to choose a job that forces them to surrender their rights.”
Trump’s statements from his rally in Alabama also drew reactions from players via social media, but that wasn’t the end of the line.
Trump’s comments led to a wave of demonstrations by players.
When Kaepernick started his protest in August of 2016, a handful of NFL players, and other athletes around the world joined in.
However, as far as the NFL goes, things went to another level after Trump’s “sons of bitches” comment. Players from around the NFL sat, knelt, and raised fists during the anthem. Some wore shirts in support of Kaepernick, while many others linked arms in “unity.”
Other teams, like the Seahawks and Titans, opted to stay in the locker room entirely. Players like Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Coleman raised fists after touchdowns during games as well.
Two weeks after the first wave of demonstrations, Pence left a Week 5 Colts game on Oct. 8 against the 49ers, in what was a political stunt.
Pence knew the players would be kneeling for the anthem, and had a prepared string of tweets, as well as a statement prepared for his departure.
Trump later took credit, saying that he asked Pence to leave if any players kneeling during the anthem.
Pence knew players would be kneeling for the anthem during the game. The NFL had seen the highest amount of demonstrations during the anthem since Trump made his “sons of bitches” comment in Alabama, and the 49ers are the team in the NFL who has had the most players kneeling, with at least 23 of them doing so at the game Pence attended.
He called out Marshawn Lynch for standing during the Mexican national anthem.
When the Raiders played the Patriots in Mexico City during Week 11, he sat for the U.S. national anthem, and stood for the Mexico national anthem:
That sparked a tweet from Trump:
He also tweeted about the topic late in November, including tweets on the NFL possibly keeping teams in the locker room for the anthem, as well as alleging the American public being “fed up” with the NFL “disrespect.”
Standing for the anthem came up in Trump’s State of the Union Speech
In his State of The Union speech, Trump indirectly mentioned the anthem protests by players, while highlighting Preston Sharp, a 12-year-old boy who placed flags at the graves of fallen soldiers.
“Preston’s reverence for those who have served our Nation reminds us why we salute our flag, why we put our hands on our hearts for the pledge of allegiance, and why we proudly stand for the national anthem,” Trump said.
Don’t be surprised if we hear more from Trump before the Super Bowl
Trump has a known relationship with the Patriots — specifically Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and Robert Kraft. Trump tweeted in support of the Patriots last year during the Super Bowl.
Although he is, as of now, skipping the president’s annual interview before the Super Bowl, it is the biggest sporting event each year in the United States, so you should expect to hear something from the president about to the big game.
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