Professional locker rooms are usually an open forum for teamwide conversations on a multitude of topics, sports-related or not. But apparently, an implicit gag order has been issued on discussion of the Republican presidential nominee in the Philadelphia Eagles locker room.
In an interview with Josh Paunil of Philadelphia Magazine on Thursday, Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said that the team avoids talking about Donald Trump in the locker room.
“Donald Trump is a divisive name in a locker room,” Jenkins said. “A lot of guys will talk politics, but usually not about Trump. Those might get a little heated depending on who you’re talking to. … There’s some hardcore Trump fans in this locker room… which is fine.
“Usually, in this locker room, everybody’s in the top tax bracket,” the Pro Bowler continued. “The Republican Party is usually nice on the pockets. That’s probably the No. 1 reason. But personally, the rest of my family is not in this tax bracket, so I usually tend to vote for the majority of who my loved ones are.
“Not that anything’s wrong with it; you support whoever you want,” Jenkins concluded. “But if I were to bring up the reasons that I didn’t like Trump — he says borderline racist things and says crazy things about women — the argument is probably going to be some way to justify it as opposed to understanding the impact that has on a person of color.”
Trump’s abrasive rhetoric has been known to foster a heavy sense of divide — across racial lines, across socioeconomic lines, and otherwise. So it’s understandable why a team would want to keep any potential source of conflict out of their locker room. Even the Eagles, who have grown increasingly socially conscious as of late, are no exception.
Still, with the worlds of sports and society more deeply intertwined than ever before, the issue may be difficult to avoid altogether, especially as we approach the final few weeks before Election Day.
H/T ProFootballTalk
