Yahoo Sports Raiders' Brock Bowers Is Cut Off By Team After Reporter Asks About Trump Stunt
Brock Bowers wasn’t the only NFL player to apparently honor Donald Trump with a version of the president-elect’s arm-pumping dance on Sunday ― but the Las Vegas Raiders tight end made news by the way his team handled a question about it.
USA Today reporter Safid Deen wrote on X that after he asked Bowers about his political touchdown celebration, the team’s PR crew cut off Bowers’ postgame availability. What’s more, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported that the team appeared to scrub the moment from video, and a transcript didn’t include the question or the answer either.
“I’ve seen everyone do it,” Bowers replied, per Deen. “I watched the UFC fight last night and Jon Jones did it. I like watching UFC so I saw it, and thought it was cool.”
Asked Brock Bowers about his Trump TD celly: “I’ve seen everyone do it. I watched the UFC fight last night and Jon Jones did it. I like watching UFC so I saw it, and thought it was cool.”
Raiders PR ended his postgame availability after my question.
pic.twitter.com/YtXzCsFmoe— Safid Deen 💯💯💯💯 (@Safid_Deen) November 17, 2024
The Raiders haven’t responded to a request for comment.
Jones broke out the dance and pointed to Trump after his fight victory in New York on Saturday, getting applause and a smile from the president-elect, who was sitting cage-side.
Bowers had 13 receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. His gesture after the latter boosted a trend that seemed to gain more momentum when San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa pulled the maneuver last week.
Asked why he did it, Bosa, who previously wore a MAGA hat while interrupting a teammate’s interview, replied: “I think you know the answer to that question. All the guys wanted me to do it. I wasn’t even going to do it, but the boys reminded me. And it was fun.”
