With all that went down in the sports world in 2016, many people are making a call to keep politics out of sports. Unfortunately for those people, it is too late for such a change to occur. Sports have not only been historically linked to politics because of the major sports figures who were political activists, but sports also work to reinforce many American ideals regardless of which side of the aisle one sits on.
In today’s society and sports, it becomes clear that politics and sports will go hand in hand for a while. Whether it be athletes endorsing a political candidate or giving their take on social issues, the trend is too massive to stop now. Future Hall of Famer and New England Patriots starting quarterback Tom Brady left a “Make America Great Again” hat in his locker that was spotted during an interview. Washington State head football coach Mike Leach endorsed Trump. LeBron James as well as other members of the Cleveland Cavaliers campaigned for Hillary Clinton.
Then you have your acts of protests in the vain of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the lesser-known protest of former Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk and many others. Most people know of Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem but few know how many athletes skipped their White House visits while former President Barack Obama was in office. Some were for miscellaneous reasons but many were outright protests against Obama and his policies. Birk skipped, citing his disdain for abortion. There were many people upset with Kaepernick, but because Birk had less notoriety, there wasn’t much of a public uproar.
The part that confuses me is: Why are people acting as if this is a new thing? When Michael Jordan was asked whether he had a stake in a democratic candidate winning an election he declined to comment saying, “Republicans buy sneakers too.” Even though Jordan refused to comment this in essence was a political act because he committed intentional inaction in order to keep members of one political group happy. If we want to go even further back than the 1990s there are examples from then too.
Mainly around the times of war, the most memorable stances are taken. An example is World War II and German Hero Max Schmeling versus Joe Louis. After Schmeling’s defeat of Louis, the country rallied behind Louis for the rematch. President Franklin Roosevelt said, “Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany.” After Louis knocked Schmeling out in the first round, anti-Nazi sentiment increased in America. Furthermore, sports work to reinforce ideologies of politics.
Sports, like capitalism, are supposed to be based off of a system of meritocracy where the best thrive and the worst are made to be footnotes in history. Regardless of whose parents were Hall of Famers or who has the best technology, the cream will always rise to the top. There is also the parallel that people in power (coaches) have a ton of leeway about their behavior as the people without (players) are forced to constantly walk on eggshells.
If people are too thin-skinned to accept that sports and politics will mix, then the only advice I have for them is to stop watching sports.
