President Trump receives cheers and boos at Indiana vs. Miami football game
The president watched the Indiana Hoosiers win their first-ever national title.
Advice for Roger Goodell, Adam Silver, and other sports figures thinking of joining President Donald Trump in planning a party at the White House this week.
Read the room.
Trump’s thugs are shooting at American citizens and using 5-year-olds in blue rabbit hats as fodder for overreaching immigration raids. Many people in the country are furious and looking for someone, anyone, to get angry and say this is not okay. Now is not the time to be seen as indulging President Trump’s latest grand vision, even if it claims to be celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary.th birthday.
The Athletic reported last week that the commissioners of the four major men’s sports are expected to visit the White House, possibly as soon as Tuesday, to hear Trump’s thoughts on incorporating the leagues into the National 250 plan. As anyone who has paid any attention to this administration knows, this meeting will be surreal television as President Trump touts his accomplishments, vents his grievances, and expects the commissioners to flatter him.
If they need any convincing as to how badly that affects the general public right now, just look at the reaction when Apple CEO Tim Cook went to the White House to watch a movie while Alex Preti’s body was still warm.
White House visit would be seen as an endorsement
The owners, who include Goodell, Silver, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, are overwhelmingly conservative and many are Trump supporters. No one would be surprised if the same goes for the committee members.
But this isn’t about politics. Really. It’s about not pretending that everything is normal when it isn’t. It’s about preventing their league from becoming the focus of Americans’ anger.
If you go to the White House, the leagues will be seen as siding with the administration that has declared open season on its citizens. If they go to the White House, they will all but ensure that their game becomes a center of protest activity in the coming weeks.
Does Mr. Goodell really want thousands of angry Americans to march outside the Super Bowl and steal the spotlight from the NFL’s marquee event? Does Silver want to antagonize players who weren’t afraid to take a stand on the right side of history?
“Alex Pretty was murdered,” Indiana Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton said in a Jan. 25 post on X.
Even in Major League Baseball, which has a large number of players from Latin America, it’s hard to imagine this wouldn’t have a negative impact on fans and players.
The league is already celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.
It’s an unnecessary risk, especially since each league can celebrate the country’s founding on its own. In fact, the NFL and NBA are already doing it.
Like the past three weekends of NFL games, the AFC title game in Denver featured “America 250” painted on the sidelines near each end zone. The football was embossed with a red, white, and blue ribbon with “USA” and “250” written below it.
The NBA announced last week that it will hold service and volunteer activities throughout the year. The country could do more with that, and the league could work to strengthen our bonds instead of tearing them apart.
When athletes call out racism, homophobia, and brutality against society’s most marginalized people, the response is almost always a shout of “Keep playing sports!” If there’s ever a time you need to follow that instruction, it’s now.
Visiting the White House at a time of great upheaval in this country would not be considered a polite cost of doing business. The commissioners will be considered co-conspirators and the league will carry that shame forever.
Follow USA TODAY sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
