Lions coach Jim Caldwell wants to avoid election talk, like most of the NFL has

Even when NFL players and coaches find themselves specifically involved in politics, they do whatever they can to not talk about politics.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick talking down a question about Donald Trump by repeating “Seattle” and quarterback Tom Brady blaming his wife for him not being able to talk politics kind of summed up the reaction of the NFL to an election everyone else is talking about.

The NFL is accused of taking itself too seriously at times, and that mostly rings true. The term “distraction” gets tossed around very easily, like a coach answering two questions about a presidential election would affect his players’ ability to run a slant route on third-and 3. If you thought Colin Kaepernick and others protesting by kneeling during the national anthem would change the tone of the NFL, the aftermath of the election has proven differently. It’s a bit surprising how few on-the-record comments, positive or negative, there have been from NFL players and coaches about Trump winning the election.

Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell was asked his opinion of the election results, and for the most part he said he wanted to stick to football.

“I try to always use this platform for what it’s meant for and that’s obviously to talk about our team and those kinds of things,” Caldwell said, according to the Detroit News. “The other things, I leave to private settings of some sort. I think the big thing, to me, what’s important, and this is all I’m going to say about it, leadership is important.

“I do know, for a fact, had I voiced some of the same opinions as our candidates, I probably wouldn’t have a job within five minutes of walking off this stage, but yet a person can become the leader of the free world,” he said. “Again, it’s a different time and place and we’re moving forward.”

The “wouldn’t have a job within five minutes” comment is illuminating. Contrast that to the politically-charged comments from Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy or San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. There have been some NFL reactions here and there, but the biggest election-related headlines from the NFL have been Kaepernick not voting, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans kneeling during the national anthem to protest Trump (and apparently, not voting).

And that’s fine. Just because someone has a job in the NFL doesn’t mean they have to speak about politics, and it doesn’t mean they’re a political expert either. It’s just an interesting comparison. Van Gundy went on a six-minute rant and called President-elect Trump “racist and misogynistic.” Belichick repeated “Seattle” over and over to make sure he doesn’t have to answer one question about a candidate he sent a congratulatory letter to. Popovich compared the United States to Rome. Caldwell just wanted to keep it to football.

“I don’t have to talk about that,” Caldwell said when asked if he would talk about the election results with his team. “We’re going to talk about football at this point in time. That’s all we’re going to talk about. That’s where our focus is.”

It’s not that one approach is right and the other is wrong. But if you want your athletes and coaches to “stick to sports,” the NFL seems to be the right way for you to go.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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