As usual, it was all about him
The biggest, baddest, and the most popular league in American sports has somehow morphed into the puny little kid who gets his lunch money stolen every day.
Because when you think about it, that’s what Donald Trump has done to the National Football League: repeatedly punked them.
A week after it was reported that the president told Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones that players who protest during the national anthem is, “a very winning, strong issue for me” and that Jones should “tell everybody, you can’t win this one,” because “this one lifts me,” the NFL’s greatest opponent announced that he was uninviting the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles to the White House, even though fewer than 10 players were planning to make the trip.
“The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow,” the president wrote in a statement on Monday.
“They disagree with their President because he insists they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honour of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country. The Eagles wanted to send a smaller delegation, but the 1,000 fans planning to attend the event deserve better.”
As usual, Trump has turned a situation that has nothing to do with him into a spectacle that promotes his agenda.
A day that was supposed to
celebrate the accomplishment of the Eagles, was turned into a bootleg carnival at the White House.
“It’s a cowardly act to cancel the celebration because the majority of the people don’t want to see you. To make it about the anthem is foolish,” said former Eagles wide receiver Torrey Smith.
Monday’s announcement was just another example of how a 71-year-old man still doesn’t understand how etiquette works. Because when you call people “sons of bitches,” they tend not to want to come over your house.
“Our union is disappointed in the decision by the White House to disinvite players from the Philadelphia Eagles from being recognized and celebrated by all Americans for their accomplishment,” read a statement from the NFL Players Association.
“This decision by the White House has led to the cancellation
of several player-led community service events for young people in the Washington D.C. area. NFL players love their country, support our troops, give back to their communities, and strive to make America a better place.”
The irony in this is that this is happening to the Eagles of all teams. A squad that didn’t have one player take a knee during the anthem last season, and hasn’t even played a game yet for players to even have a chance of staying in the locker and abide by the new anthem policy.
“NFL, no escaping to Locker Rooms!” Trump added to the end of a tweet on Tuesday.
Also, the city of Philadelphia is regarded as the birthplace of democracy, as it’s where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were created.
Trump isn’t just disrespecting a football team by uninviting the Eagles to the White House, he’s giving the birthplace of everything this country supposedly stands for the middle finger.
“I’m proud of the Eagles on & off the field,” tweeted Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney on Monday. “Our players represent the diversity of our nation — a nation where we’re free to express our opinions. Disinviting them only proves the president is not a true patriot. City Hall is always open for a celebration.”
Less than three weeks after the league was intimidated into creating a new unneeded anthem policy to appease the president, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners are now being forced to realize that they’ve lost all control of this situation and are in the crosshairs of a man that will never be satisfied.
Because once a bully knows he can get away with doing whatever he wants, he’s never going to stop.
With Malcolm Jenkins as the leader of the Player’s Coalition, Chris Long coming off a season in which he donated his entire salary to charity, and Torrey Smith joining the duo in meeting with state lawmakers on criminal justice reforms, from the jump, this visit was never going to actually happen.
By now we all know that the true meaning behind these peaceful protests has been hijacked and forgotten because this country refuses to realize that black people have become target practice for police.
The most powerful league in sports has let themselves be tormented by a man who’d rather dictate how they run their businesses for his own political gain than make America great.