Getting an NFL stadium named in his honor won’t be enough to save Trump’s irredeemable legacy
The Washington Commanders and the NFL continue to be the president’s gimmick, and it’s starting to feel like they enjoy it.
By Carron J. Phillips
When your approval rating is lower than Dillon Gabriel’s completion percentage, finding a win becomes a necessity.
In a country that’s addicted to football, getting an NFL franchise to name its new stadium after you might feel like winning a Super Bowl. Imagining this scenario can make your dreams seem like reality after a team owner presents you with a jersey and a network broadcasts nearly 10 minutes of you on live television, making you feel like an MVP.
“I played tight end, but it was not quite football like this. It was a little bit easier. It wasn’t so tough,” President Donald Trump said during the broadcast of the Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions game on Sunday, about his past as a “football player.”
Trump ostensibly attended the game to, as a part of the NFL’s Salute to Service Initiative, read the oath of enlistment to new service members who were honored on the field. Boos rained down from the crowd for multiple reasons, given the state of our nation and the presence of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a woefully unqualified individual who has “fired or sidelined at least two dozen generals and admirals,” during his tenure, according to the New York Times.
However, Trump was really there because he’s doing everything he can to persuade the Commanders to name their new planned $3.7 billion stadium after him. It has been reported that there have been backchannel conversations between the White House and the Commanders’ ownership group. “That would be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told ESPN.
“I don’t know what’s on his mind,” Bomani Jones said on his podcast. “I’m trying to think of the stadiums that are named after politicians, and I can only think of two. RFK (Robert F. Kennedy) Stadium in Washington (D.C.), where they’re looking to build the new stadium, and if I’m not mistaken, Philly had a John F. Kennedy Stadium. What did they have to do to get stadiums named after them? I would not want a stadium named after me, is all I’m saying. They don’t do that just because they like you.” Jones reminded listeners that both men were assassinated.
Despite how desperate and pathetic this ambition might seem, it’s in line with the behavior of a man who publicly auditioned for the Nobel Peace Prize after renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War.
Oddly enough, Sunday wound up being a win for Trump. Hours after the game, reports surfaced that eight Democratic lawmakers had cowardly caved and broken rank, giving up their leverage in the government shutdown.
This is where we are in America: The president is having a blast checking things off items from his bucket list while the citizens of this country are left to deal with the devastating effects of his policies and the embarrassing ramifications of his actions.
“Things are going along very well. The country’s doing well. The Democrats have to open [the government] up,” said Trump, as he lied and predicted the future in one swoop during the game’s broadcast.
Trump’s relationship with the NFL has been rocky for decades. It started back in the 1980s when he owned a team in the short-lived USFL and took on the NFL in court. Technically, the USFL won the $1.5 billion antitrust lawsuit, but costs from the legal fees led to the league eventually folding. A failed attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills further alienated him from the “good ol’ boys club.” In his first term, Trump constantly attacked the league, owners, and players, focusing particularly on Colin Kaepernick. However, this time around, he’s taken a softer approach—including showing up to the Super Bowl—and appeasing his former detractors, which has led to more championship teams across all sports visiting the White House. Earlier this year, Trump held a press conference at the White House with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Commanders team owner Josh Harris to announce that Washington, D.C., would host the 2027 NFL Draft. Months later, Trump threatened to hold up the deal for the Commanders’ new stadium if the team didn’t revert to its old racist name: the Redskins. Now, he wants his name on the side of the building.
The president is making yet another asinine demand, and the Commanders, the NFL, and FOX allowed a football game to be overtaken by partisan politics. The man who seems to take pride in destroying America was treated like a Make-A-Wish kid on national television. Having a professional football team playing its games at “Trump Stadium” won’t magically erase all the chaos he has caused. However, it will serve as a lasting reminder that millions of Americans were complicit in allowing a sitting U.S. president to punk anyone he wanted, forever tainting the integrity of the highest office in the land.
Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University.
How much longer are we going to have to put up with his garbage? He looks so bad i keep hoping he'll just die and put an end to our misery. I hope his gang of destroyers gets locked up for years. Damn these people!
The new owner of the Commanders very wisely sidestepped any comments on what the new stadium would be named. I seriously doubt it will be named after the orange felon. He'll be long gone before that stadium is even finished, which is estimated as 2030.