The NFL Players Association has jumped into the political fray with a statement against what it characterizes as President Donald Trump’s “Muslim ban,” and telling Muslim players the organization “has their backs.”
“Our Muslim brothers that are in this league: we have their backs. And that’s it,” NFLPA president Eric Winston said in a statement. “And we’re going to do whatever we can. I’ll go stand with them. If people want to come to my house, their family or whatever, I’ll be there with them.”
The NFLPA’s union chief made his comments at the group’s annual Super Bowl media conference on Thursday, February 2.
"Our Muslim brothers, we have their backs. That's it." — President @ericwinston on the #muslimban
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) February 2, 2017
Winston, who is also a Cincinnati Bengals tackle, went on to claim America is “turning away from our values as a country.”
“I don’t think that’s who we are as a people, but I’ll leave that discussion for another day,” Winston exclaimed. “But at the same time, those guys are there with us. They’re our brothers, and their families are our families, and we will stand with them.”
However, no NFL players have been affected by President Trump’s recent temporary moratorium on travel from a list of seven terror-torn nations, according to USA Today.
Of course, it is a mischaracterization of Trump’s travel order to call it a “Muslim ban,” and shows that the NFLPA is more interested in making a political statement than in actually supporting any Muslim pro football players.
Several Twitter users were quite disappointed in yet another member of the NFL turning football into a platform for left-wing political activism.
@NFLPA @ericwinston it’s not a Muslim ban c’mon be professional!
— Nicholas Kantor (@nicholaskantor) February 2, 2017
@NFLPA @ericwinston Politics saturate the news already. Football is a great escape from the craziness. Please don’t ruin that for us.
— Patrick M. (@Tex_IT_Guy) February 3, 2017
@NFLPA @ericwinston Pretty sad NFLPA. Why are you spreading hate and fake news?#onelove
— Stoners4America (@spacebound33) February 3, 2017
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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