Michael Irvin responds to Trump asking NFL players for pardon recommendations
President Donald Trump seemed to offer an olive branch to the NFL’s anthem protesters Friday after harshly criticizing them over the past year.
Before leaving for the G-7 summit in Canada, Trump told reporters outside the White House that he wants to meet with the protesters and find out whom they would like him to give a presidential pardon.
“What I’m going to do is I’m going to say to them, instead of talk — it’s all talk talk talk … I’m going to ask all of those people to recommend to me — because that’s what they’re protesting — people that they think were unfairly treated by the justice system,” the president said. “And I understand that. I’m going to ask them to recommend to me people that were unfairly treated — friends of theirs or people that they know about — and I’m going to take a look at those applications, and if I find and my committee finds that they’ve been unfairly treated, then we’ll pardon them. Or at least let them out.”
At least one NFL Hall of Famer wasn’t overwhelmed by Trump’s overture.
Former Cowboys star Michael Irvin was asked about the president’s pardon comments Friday by independent journalist Adam Glyn.
“He’s going to let somebody out of jail, and that should help with the issue of killing innocent people?” Irvin said.
Glyn asked him whether he believed Trump would actually pardon the people on a list submitted by the protesters.
“You’re missing the point, buddy,” Irvin said. “You’re missing the point. The point is not do I believe he will actually pardon people. The point is, how can you say, ‘I’ll let somebody out of jail,’ if you guys are OK with innocent people being killed?
“That’s the point. Don’t even get to that point. Are you joking?”
The impetus for the protests was the deaths of black Americans in incidents involving police officers.
The anthem demonstrations were started during the 2016 preseason by then-49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who said at the time, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
Trump has spoken out against the protests on several occasions, most notably during a rally last September.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b—- off the field right now. He’s fired!’?” the president said.
Trump is among many Americans who consider the anthem protests to be divisive and disrespectful to those who have served in the military.
Since the demonstrations began, the league’s television ratings have fallen, and many fans have called for an NFL boycott.
The NFL tried to put a stop to the controversy by announcing a new policy on anthem protests last month. Players will be required to stand if they’re on the field, but they will have the option to remain in the locker room if they don’t want to stand.
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