Jalen Hurts, I may now be a fan. He just signed a massive contract with the Philadelphia Eagle but what I may like is the fact that it may also be a political statement. Skip Bayless has reported that Hurts had left his former Agent Lil Wayne because he appeared in a photo with Donald Trump. He has said that Hurts leaving Wayne’s Young Money Sports Agency really hurt Wayne personally. To put the story a little more accurately lets tell the whole truth. Nicole Lynn is Hurt’s agent and used to work with Young Money Sports Agency and it appears that they left together. She is a superstar among agents and Hurt made a great decision to leave with her. I don’t know where Skip Bayless is getting his information but I have always thought of him as the Tucker Carlson of Fox Sports. Would it bother me that Hurt left because of Lil Wayne’s relationship with Trump? Not one bit. I prefer to be associated with people that have the same values as me. Lil Wayne got what he wanted from Trump which was a pardon on an illegal weapons charge. Hurts got what he wanted and that was one of the biggest contracts in sports history. I have seen nothing that says why Hurt left Lil Wayne except of the Bayless story. Why would this make me a Hurts fan? Because of Bayless’s reporting has put a bull's eye on Hurts from all the MAGA people out there that so passionately support their Fuehrer.  

I grew up during a time when there were some athletes that used their sports platform to make political statements. I will remember how Mohammed Ali stood up for his principles and was found guilty for refusing to report for the draft. He stood up for his belief and as a conscientious objector. He stood for his principles and was willing to pay the price. He was stripped of all of his boxing titles and didn’t box for 4 years. He became one of the voices against racism and the treatment of Blacks in America. I remember Tommy Smith and John Carlos with their raised gloved fist on the podium at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. I remember how they were stripped of the medals that they earned and where sent home in disgrace. I remember in the same Olympics how George Foreman after he won paraded around the ring with a little American flag. While Smith and Carlos sacrificed everything for their cause George Foreman became and multi-millionaire spokesperson. I am not saying that what Foreman did was wrong but what Smith and Carlos did was historical and will be remembered.  Many Black athletes from Bill Russell and Jim Brown to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lebron James have stood up against the racism and bigotry that has plagued the country since its founding. They have used their sports platform to support change which they thought was their right but also their responsibility.

Funny how it works though that some of the loudest voices you don’t hear about from the mainstream press. Michael Jordan announced after the death of George Floyd a promised to donate 100 million dollars to Black Lives Matters. That got so little news that I didn’t even remember it. After the George Floyd murder he issued a statement “I am deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry. I see and feel everyone’s pain, outrage and frustration. I stand with those who are calling out the ingrained racism and violence toward people of color in our country. We have had enough.”I now look at Michael Jordan in a different light.  A very great athlete yet flawed man like all of us but is willing to stand up and be counted on for a cause that is right.

Another story that has not gotten a lot of press in my opinion is the one of Dwayne Wade leaving Florida because he no longer feels his family is safe in Florida. At the Met Gala he spoke from the Red Carpet “I love Miami, Miami has done so much for me-Florida has done so much for me. The last couple years, the laws, the politics have become the big conversation. This unsafe conversation. And it’s unsafe for my daughter; it’s unsafe for all the young kids, the youth, the adults and the elderly in the Trans community. So for us, as much as I love that city and as much as it’s always going to be a part of it, for the safety of my family, that’s what it was for me.”I agree with him and I have always respected him but now I have even more. I also live in Florida and I love many of the things that the state has to offer but the one thing that Florida has in an over abundance is hate and guns. It is unsafe now and it is only going to get worse. I can see me leaving Florida.

What would happen if all the Black Superstars left Florida? What type of statement would that make? What would happen if the top High School athletes chose to go out of state where Black history and Black culture means something, where you can study and learn from the theories of why racism has driven American culture for as long as it has. Where you can experience real freedom instead of what some who want to be dictator and tells you what your freedom should be. Our three biggest sports, football, basketball and baseball are all made up of mostly minorities. If I was a Black superstar would I want to play in a state where I am demonized because of color of my skin or because of where I was born? Would I want to be a Hispanic Baseball player that immigrated to the United States so I could play ball for some billionaire only to watch the state that I play in deport people that look just like me, or put them on a plane to Massachusetts to be used as pawns in some political game? I wouldn’t but that just me and I could be wrong. For some, that is there only escape from the poverty that they come from and I understand that but after you escape that poverty you sometimes have a stronger voice that can help millions.

You have the other side of the spectrum where famous sports people have let themselves  be used by corrupt politicians and have tarnished their legacy. First I will mention Vince Lombardi who in my opinion is that greatest football coach that ever lived. He was a man of great character and a true leader. He was a strong supporter of Civil Rights and also of Gay Rights. He was also a man that truly loved his country and was upset and spoke out against with the anti-war counter culture during the height of the Vietnam War. Nixon used that, which has left a stain on the Lombardi legacy for some of us that lived through that  period of time. Not that he opposed the protest because many in the nation were divided but because Nixon used that to his advantage to divide us more.  

The athlete that I am the most disappointed in is Jack Nicklaus. After four years of Trump’s insults, after four years of Trump not even attempting to unite our country Nicklaus writes a glowing endorsement supporting another 4 more years of Trump’s divisive policies. He called Trump a man, a great President who loved his country. After Trump lost the election Trump attempted, in my opinion, a coup to over- throw our government. When questioned at the Masters about it he dodged the issue saying that it was not the place for such a conversation. He used his platform as a golfer to support a traitor to our Constitution but that platform can’t be used for him to have to justify those statements of endorsement. After the January 6^th insurrection the PGA made the decision that they would not play that PGA Championship at a Trump owned golf course and moved it to a different venue. Nicklaus came out with another strong statement that saying it was “cancel culture” and that Trump was a great supporter of Golf and a Great American. I don’t know what planet Nicklaus has been living on but it must not be the same planet that I have been. Does Jack even read a newspaper? Does Jack even care about our Constitution? Jack Nicklaus to many, went from a sports icon and a great American to the face of White Privilege. I watch less golf now than I use to. I always looked forward to the start of the Masters. The last few years I didn’t even watch them.  I probably won’t next year either.

I respect athletes that come to the forefront supporting social change. Who is the greater American, Jack Nicklaus or Colin Kaepernick. In my option it is Colin Kaepernick. He scarified everything for his principles like our founders did. If we had lost the war against England we would have never heard of John Adams or Thomas Jefferson because they would have lost everything. Did Colin Kaepernick disrespect our nation. Not in my opinion. He brought out what it is like to be a truly great American and sorry Jack, Golf history may remember you but American History will remember Colin Kaepernick.