This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Thanks for reading the Morning Win today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time this morning.
Jayden Daniels and the Commanders pulling off an incredible Hail Mary pass to beat the Bears is taking up most of the air in the room this morning. Reasonably so. What an incredible play.
That’s a stroke of luck for Nick Bosa, who’d probably be in the spotlight a bit more today otherwise after he selfishly decided to barge in on his teammate’s postgame interview to make a political statement. Bosa proudly boasted a MAGA hat for the millions of folks watching back home to see, tacitly endorsing Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
He didn’t say a word. He barely looked at the camera. He just walked over and pointed to his hat.
First of all, I thought we were sticking to sports in the NFL. But I guess that only applies when someone takes a stand (or a knee) against police brutality in this country. But I digress.
Considering that Bosa made the explicit decision to flash the hat, you’d think he’d be prepared to speak about his decision and what the hat and the movement it represents mean to him after sharing it with the world.
But if you thought that — like I did! — you’d be wrong.
Instead of standing on his beliefs when confronted about them, he tucked his tail and ran. “I’m not going to talk too much about it. But I think it’s an important time,” he told reporters.
Bosa seemed to want people to know who he stands with. But, when asked why he feels the way he does, he didn’t want to talk about it. The best he could offer up was, “It’s an important time.” Well, yeah, Nick. Duh. We all know that.
One of these two things are happening here:
Either Bosa isn’t well-equipped enough to articulate his position and talk about why he wore the hat on national television, in which case he probably shouldn’t have worn the hat at all.
Or he’s able to explain his feelings here, but he’s simply just afraid to. Which, to put it plainly, folks, is pure cowardice.
Considering that he’s grown into quite the “talker” now, I’d lean toward the latter. Either way, it’s a real shame.
If you’re leaning in on the hate, stand on it. After all, that is the statement he wanted to make by barging in on his teammate’s interview.
Seven years ago, Colin Kaepernick was in the same space on the opposite end of the spectrum. He was asked about kneeling during the national anthem at NFL games. When he was asked about it, he didn’t run from it. He stood on everything he believed in. He lost his job because of it. He wasn’t afraid of the consequences. He didn’t care what people thought. He just did what he thought was right.
At the very least, even if you didn’t agree with how Kaepernick protested, you had to respect at least his message and what he was willing to sacrifice to ensure everyone received it.
Nick Bosa doesn’t have that sort of backbone.
On the one hand, I can’t blame him. I’d probably feel shame, too, if I supported someone who held a rally filled with sleazeballs who spewed racist, misogynistic, antisemitic hate speech about the marginalized communities that make our country the special place it is. I’d question why there was such hatred in my heart and why I’d ever think to support someone like that in the first place.
But, then again, that’s clearly why Bosa felt so emboldened to wear the hat in the first place. Those are his people. He’s no stranger to the sort of hatred we saw during Sunday’s Trump rally at MSG and the racist rhetoric we’ve seen from the campaign over these last few months.
Instead of embracing that and showing the people who he really is when confronted with it, he ran from it. He couldn’t stand on it. He didn’t want to talk about it.
Not only is Nick Bosa a coward, but he’s also someone who doesn’t deserve any of your respect. He certainly doesn’t have mine.
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They did Dwyane Wade dirty
The Miami Heat finally unveiled Dwyane Wade’s statue on Sunday. It’s about time. He’s the greatest player in the history of the organization and one of the best players in NBA history. He deserves a statue.
To be honest with you, I’m still not quite sure he got it. Because, y’all, who in the world is this?
That’s supposed to be Dwyane Wade doing the whole “This is my house” thing. But they got my boy looking like a Goomba from the 1993 Super Mario movie. This is a travesty.
THIS WAS SO AWKWARD: We’re all wondering “Who is that guy” right along with D Wade.
Paul Pierce says this statue needs to be touched up and I couldn’t agree more. Somebody please fix this.
Jaylon Johnson is a great teammate
Because, let me tell you, if my team just lost on a Hail Mary where someone was wide open in the back of the endzone? Somebody is getting thrown under the bus.
Johnson took the high road, though, our Robert Zeglinski writes. He didn’t pin the responsibility on anyone— he just pointed out that the Bears needed to be better.
“There should never be somebody wide open in the back of the end zone. Plus we just didn’t execute it well enough at the end of the day. I can’t tell you who was supposed to be there. I don’t know. But at the end of the day, there should never be anybody wide open in the back of the end zone. We’ve all got to find a way to execute better down the stretch.”
He’s better than me. Because I’m pointing the finger right at Tyrique Stevenson.
I’m just petty. Forgive me.
AMERICA’S HAIL MARY: Jayden Daniels may have just decided the election with this one.
Quick hits: The 6 ugliest sports statues … the Pistons still stink … and more
— Charles Curtis has the six ugliest statues for players here. Hi, Cristiano Ronaldo.
— Prince Grimes says the Pistons are taking again and have Cooper Flagg in their sights.
— Matt Eberflus blaming the Bears players for the Hail Mary kind of sucks, Robert Zeglinski writes.
— Dolphins fans were so happy that Tua Tagovailoa actually practiced self-preservation for once. Christian D’Andrea has more.
— Could Stephanie White be Caitlin Clark’s next coach? Prince Grimes says there’s a chance.
— Anthony Richardson taking a breather because he was tired is too funny. Andrew Joseph has more.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading today. Appreciate you. Have a great Monday. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️