This isn’t surprising.
We are a racially divided country and the divide seems to get bigger and bigger each day. Trump ran a campaign that catered to angry racist white people.
The KKK endorsed him and he did nothing to stop that hate message from spreading.
There are a lot of white people who are friendly with black people who voted for Trump, that is the only way he could win. So, it isn’t surprising there are players in NFL locker rooms who teammates respect and like, but who are 100% behind Trump and that is scary.
Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report got some quotes and none of them should come as a shock to you.
“One of the greatest days of my life,” a white offensive lineman from the AFC told B/R.
“Easily one of the worst days of my life,” said a black offensive lineman, also from the AFC. “It’s like my dog died. Worse.”
“Trump is creating a more blue-collar America,” said a special teams player, “and at its core, our sport is a blue-collar sport.”
Exit polling by NBC this year showed that 89 percent of black voters were either concerned or scared if Trump were to win. My guess is those percentages would hold up, or be close, in NFL locker rooms.
“If you voted for Trump,” said one AFC offensive starter, “I don’t trust you.”
“Black players are constantly playing the race card [when it comes to Trump],” a white NFC player said. “This election had nothing to do with race.”
Some of the black players I spoke with said they didn’t understand how black players on the Patriots weren’t enraged with Belichick. Or with Tom Brady, who Trump said supported his candidacy.
“Very disappointed in [Belichick],” one player said. “I thought he was better than that.”
White players didn’t think Trump’s election had anything to do with race, we call that white privilege. The KKK marched in celebration of his victory, someone yelled “Kill Obama” during Trump’s victory speech, to say it has nothing to do with race is idiotic.
In the end with athletes what happens on the field is the only thing that matters to them, but I’d definitely be looking at some of my teammates with a side eye today.