Evan Vucci / AP
Carolyn Kaster/Ap
Jim Watson/Getty Images
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Carolyn Kaster / AP
YURI KADOBNOV / AFP/Getty Images
SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images
Andrew Harnik / AP
Andrew Harnik / AP
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Evan Vucci / AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Susan Walsh / AP
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Andrew Harnik / AP
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Bloomberg/Getty Images
Alex Wong / Getty Images
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette via AP
Mikhail Svetlov / Getty Images
Tia Dufour/The White House via AP
Reuters
Susan Walsh/Ap
JIM WATSON / Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Patrick Semansky / AP
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
Sean Gallup / Getty Images
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Saul Loeb/Getty Images
Evan Vucci/Ap
Saul Loebsaul Loeb/Afp/Getty Images
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Evan Vucci / AP
Matt Dunham / AP
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Steve Helber / AP
Mandel Ngan/Getty Images
Matt Dunham / AP
Brendan Smialowski/Afp/Getty Images
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Evan Vucci / AP
Anthony Peltier/AP
Andrew Harnik / AP
Ap Photo/Evan Vucci
SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
Matt Dunham / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Andrew Harnik/Ap
Jim Mone / AP
Patrick Semansky/AP
Saul Loeb/Getty Images
Matt Rourke/AP
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Carlos Barria/Reuters
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Alex Brandon/AP
DOUG MILLS / POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Saul Loeb/Getty Images
YURI KADOBNOV / AFP/Getty Images
Pool/Getty Images
Greg Lovett Via Zuma Wire
Chris Jackson / AP
Win Mcnamee/Getty Images
Susan Walsh / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Susan Walsh / AP
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
CARLOS BARRIA/Reuters
Susan Walsh / AP
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Win Mcnamee/Getty Images
Evan Vucci / AP
Saul Loeb/Getty Images
Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/Tns
Susan Walsh / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Evan Vucci/AP
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Mark Wilson / Getty Images
NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP via Getty Images
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Patrick Semansky/AP
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Evan Vucci/AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Andrew Harnik/Ap Photos
Alex Brandon / AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Jim Watson/Getty Images
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images
Alex Brandon/AP
JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP/Getty Images
Evan Vucci/Ap
Patrick Semansky / AP
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Carolyn Kaster/AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Carolyn Kaster/Ap
Susan Walsh/Ap
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Evan Vucci / AP
Ron Sachs - Pool/Getty Images
Susan Walsh / AP
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Andrew Harnik / AP
SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
BEN STANSALL / AFP/Getty Images
Alex Brandon/AP
Robyn Beck/Getty Images
Evan Vucci/AP
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Evan Vucci/Ap
Alex Brandon/AP
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Pablo Martinez/Ap
Alex Brandon/AP
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Evan Vucci / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Alex Brandon / AP
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
Seth Wenig / AP
Charles Platiau/Reuters
Alex Brandon/Ap
Evan Vucci/AP
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Evan Vucci / AP
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Alex Brandon / AP
Pool / Getty Images
Evan Vucci/Ap Photo
Alex Brandon / AP
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Mark Wilson / Getty Images
JIM WATSON / Getty Images
Carlos Vargas/AP
Evan Vucci / AP
Saul Loeb/Getty Images
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Ap, Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
John Minchillo / AP
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Alex Brandon / AP
Evan Vucci/Ap
Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images
Scott Olson / Getty Images
Andrew Harnik / AP
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
The NFL is getting too soft for the President.
Lost in the outrage over Donald Trump calling for NFL owners to fire players who protest during the national anthem, was his take that protecting player safety is ruining the game.
“Today, if you hit too hard, 15 yards, throw him out of the game,” Trump said while throwing a pretend penalty flag during his campaign-style rally in Alabama Friday night. “They’re ruining the game, right? They’re ruining the game. It’s hurting the game.”
In his rambling speech, Trump said he watched the NFL “for a couple of minutes” and said he saw a “beautiful tackle” that resulted in a flag.
Trump also took credit for the NFL’s TV ratings being down “massively.”
“Now the No. 1 reason happens to be, they like watching what’s happening with your truly.”
Trump’s anti-football rant came just days after it was revealed that former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez suffered from a severe case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). His brain was donated for research after he committed suicide in prison in April. The rising NFL star was serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd.
Dr. Ann McKee, the director of the CTE Center at Boston University, concluded Hernandez, 27, had stage 3 CTE (4 is considered the worst). She also discovered he had early brain atrophy and large perforations in a central membrane.
The revelations about Hernandez follow on the heels of a study that found evidence of the crippling brain disease in 110 of 111 former NFL players whose brains were studied. CTE can only be diagnosed postmortem.
NFL players’ union boss DeMaurice Smith released a statement Saturday morning to address Trump’s football talk.
“This union, however, will never back down when it comes to protecting the constitutional rights of our players as citizens as well as their safety as men who compete in a game that exposes them to great risks.”
In the speech in Huntsville, a rally held in support of incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, Trump called for the firing of players who protest during the national anthem.
“Wouldn’t you love to see on of these owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, say, ‘Get that son of a b—- off the field right now. Out, you’re fired!”