A three-time Super Bowl champ refused to take the bait when Fox Business anchor David Asman tried to get him to endorse the the right-wing media ecosystem’s latest outrage cycle about the NFL continuing to stencil social justice messages in the end zones.
“It doesn’t matter,” former New England Patriots fullback James Develin said, shrugging off Asman’s indignation about the league “putting politics into sports.”
Last week, the NFL announced that it would continue its social messaging campaign, marking the sixth straight season the league has added inspirational slogans in its stadiums. The initiative kicked off following the 2020 death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests it sparked across the nation.
“All 32 teams will feature an end zone message of their choice at each home game throughout the season, selecting from four options: ‘End Racism,’ ‘Stop Hate,’ ‘Choose Love’ or ‘Inspire Change.’ Once again, ‘It Takes All of Us’ will be stenciled in the opposite end zone for all games,” the Associated Press reported. “The only change from 2024 is that ‘Inspire Change’ replaces ‘Vote.’”
Anna Isaacson, the NFL’s senior vice president of social responsibility, also told the AP that the league was working with teams to” amplify player voices and underscore what is most important to them,” as they are a “unifying force in American culture and society.”
It didn’t take long for MAGA media figures and influencers to fume about the “woke” campaign from the “tone-deaf” league, with some insisting they were “totally done” with the NFL. “Can’t we just escape politics and wokeism for a measly 3 hours and watch football?” one “anti-woke conservative” social media personality groused.
“Please tell me whose lives have been changed by this?! I wish the NFL could get back to ONE national anthem. I don’t need a slogan in the back of the end zone,” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade complained earlier this week. “But we don’t need this. The country has moved on, thankfully.”
Meanwhile, during Wednesday night’s broadcast of Fox News’ “comedy” show Gutfeld!, host Greg Gutfeld and his panel spent the first 15 minutes of the broadcast raging about the NFL’s decision to continue posting the slogans on the field.
“Woke platitudes in the end zone are like middle-aged men wearing skinny jeans to work. All you can do is laugh,” Gutfeld joked while guest Erin Maguire griped that the campaign was “obscene.”
Bringing on Develin to talk about his participation in the Navy SEAL Foundation NYC SEAL Swim, which is held annually to raise funds for the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks, Asman first wanted to ask the ex-player what he thought about the league continuing its social messaging initiative.
At the same time, the Fox Business host made sure that Develin knew he was very outraged about the whole thing.
“For the sixth straight season, the NFL will continue its on-field social justice messaging. All 32 teams are gonna be displaying an end zone message of their choice, like ‘End Racism,’ ‘Stop Hate,’ ‘Choose Love,’ or ‘Inspire Change,’” Asman stated before turning to Develin. “Does it bother you that the NFL seems intent on putting politics into sports?”
Develin, however, didn’t take the ragebait.
“No, it doesn’t matter,” he responded. “Any time you can just remind people of those few little sayings, it’s all positive.”
Asman, meanwhile, seemed a bit disappointed that he couldn’t get a soundbite from a former player slamming the league for its wokeness.
“All right, all right,” the host sighed. “It kinda bugs me when everything seems to have a political edge to it these days. Sometimes those things veer into that territory.”
From there, Asman moved the interview on to its original purpose, which was to discuss Develin’s participation in the charity event.
