What does it mean to be an NFL player in 2017? To Washington Post sports writer Adam Kilgore this season has been like no other year, as politics ensnared pro football players and philanthropy motivated them. He focused on one player in particular -- Chris Long, whose charity is laudable and whose criticism of President Trump is gold to left-stream sports media.
The son of Hall of Famer Howie Long, Chris Long has earned more than $40 million in his NFL career. He was a member of the 2016 Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, but he boycotted the White House celebration for the team.
Long (at left in photograph) has played with Philadelphia this season and supports Eagles' teammate and protester Harold Jenkins (center in photograph) by placing a hand on his shoulder during the national anthem. He admits he benefits from white privilege.
Long admires former President Obama and calls him "somebody I have a lot of respect for, just the class that he carried himself with as the face of our nation." Long strongly disapproves of President Trump, especially because of the August violence in Charlottesville, his hometown.
The Charlottesville native believes President Trump whiffed on the tragedy that took place in Charlottesville last summer. Kilgore and Long view that event through the same liberal lens. Kilgore describes the August mayhem in Virginia as one of "rallies by white nationalists and supremacists" and he assigns no guilt to the violent anti-fascist facists for the ugly clash that resulted in the death of a woman:
"A right-wing rally in Charlottesville had turned violent and deadly. Trump later assessed responsibility to bad actors 'on both sides' of the conflict. Viewing images and news stories, Long felt violated."
Long touts the left-wing narrative on Charlottesville and says President Trump whiffed in his response. ”That day, I thought if there were an opportunity for somebody to redeem himself and step up, boy, he failed miserably. For me, I just sat in my car that night and watched his absolute swing-and-a-miss, and it hurt for people in this country who feel that way on a regular basis. I was like: you know what? I already know all this stuff exists. Why hasn't it been enough for me to act more before Charlottesville? I always wanted to be supportive of my peers. I felt angry."
Kilgore writes Long "put his money behind his words." Long donated his first six game checks to educational programs in and around Charlottesville. Kilgore doesn't make a tie-in to the NFL protests and Charlottesville to Long's charitable giving. And it's not like this year's NFL players -- protesters and non-protesters alike -- are the first to donate to worthy causes, or even to liberal causes.
The number of players protesting the national anthem was modest until September when President Trump called them ''sons of bitches.'' By late fall, Kilgore writes, "politicians used player demonstrations in campaign ads as a culture-war signal. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick -- who started the national anthem protest movement in 2016 -- donated $1 million to social causes while NFL owners chose not to employ him. Long's year reflected those themes."
The themes of protests and philanthropy are disconnected from each other, though Kilgore doesn't note that. Protesters said they were angry about racial inequality and police brutality. Their charitable donations were directed at other causes which had nothing to do with the objects of the protesters' scorn. Kaepernick donated to an abortion organization, among other groups.
Kilgore also pointed out a Long-Kaepernick connection. Just recently, the writer said, Long "went on a self-described Twitter 'thread rant' aligning himself with Kaepernick's views, asserting he deserves an NFL roster spot and chastising those who would use his philanthropy to denigrate Kaepernick." I don't know who those people would be. Many sports writers repeat over and over again that Kaepernick is an incredible humanitarian for donating money to charities.
Kilgore started by asking a question about what it means to be an NFL player in 2017, and now I have one for him. What does it mean to be a sports writer in 2017? For many, especially those at the Washington Post, it means to champion liberal athletes with liberal causes.
