Charlie Kirk gets a minute of silence by NFL and MLB teams, shifting a longstanding position on political statements in professional sports
When I saw the news Charlie Kirk had been shot Wednesday, the last place I expected to see his face was on the Lambeau Field jumbotron two days later. American professional sports are usually a sanitized apolitical field, with commentators ignoring national tragedies in favor of hot takes on debate shows and athletes rarely speaking out at the risk of losing their platforms.
This weekend however, most NFL teams had a minute of silence for the right wing political commentator after his fatal shooting at Utah Valley University. It was quite unusual seeing so many statements over the weekend for a man that’s considered divisive at the very least.
It also directly contrasts with the league’s policy on political statements over the years, Colin Kaepernick was effectively kicked out for kneeling in opposition to black oppression and police brutality.
Last season, Nick Bosa, a star defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers, was fined $11,255 for wearing a MAGA hat during a postgame interview, violating the league’s policy on wearing personal messages on game-day.
Yet the NFL, a league that has “End Racism” on a decal in their end zone, also commemorated a man who said he wouldn’t trust a plane flown by a black pilot.
The New York Yankees, a day before 9/11 amidst ongoing ICE raids also followed suit, despite Kirk calling immigration an “unruly invasion”. Are we finally seeing a world where the place of sports as a political reform breeding ground is acknowledged? I highly doubt it. Laura Ingraham, famous for telling Lebron James to shut up and dribble on Fox News in 2018, had no bite for this wave of political statements following Kirk’s death.
But maybe it was never about the place of politics in sports and instead, who should be allowed to make political statements in sports all along.
Trae Davis 