Donald Trump has been making no shortage of controversial moves since returning to the Oval Office following his inauguration. One such move has been the elimination of DEI initiatives across the federal government, with many companies and corporations following suit.
However, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pushed back against Trump’s trend, saying that the NFL has no intention of reversing anything it has in place that promotes diversity.
“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League,” Goodell said recently in a media session. “We’re going to continue those efforts because we’ve not only convinced ourselves, I think we’ve proven ourselves that it does make the NFL better.
We’re not in this because it’s a trend to get in it or a trend to get out of it. Our efforts are fundamental in trying to attract the best possible talent into the National Football League.”
In the wake of Goodell’s comments, many were surprised when it was reported that the NFL would be removing ‘End Racism‘ from the white paint in the endzone for the Super Bowl.
However, more news broke on Tuesday that may help to shed light on the decision. Trump will be attending the Super Bowl, which will make him the first sitting President to ever attend the game, per Pro Football Talk.
While there have been no official reports linking the decision to remove ‘End Racism’ and Trump’s reported attendance, it’s hard not to read between the lines and see this as a victory for Trump over Goodell.
Fans reacted to the news of Trump’s attendance on social media.
“So THAT’s why the ‘End Racism’ is really being removed,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“I guess now we know why they took out the ‘End Racism’ from the end zones… we don’t want to offend Fair Leader,” wrote someone else.
“Now we know why the ‘End Racism’ signs have been removed from the end zone!” one fan added.
“Hence why the NFL is removing from the end zone, End Racism,” another person added.
“And this will be the first game since 2021 without the ‘End Racism’ logo on the end zone. Coincidence?” someone else asked cheekily.
It’ll be interesting to see how much attention Trump gets from the FOX broadcast of the Super Bowl.
