Donald Trump attends an NFL main round game. A German-American celebrates his touchdown with a salute towards the stands. He later comments on an unsportsmanlike incident.
Washington – First cheered conspicuously, later beaten: NFL professional Amon-Ra St. Brown was the focus of attention several times in his Detroit Lions’ 44:22 win against the Washington Commanders. First, the German-American celebrated his eighth touchdown of the season with a greeting to US President Donald Trump. The 26-year-old footballer showed a few dance steps that were very reminiscent of those that Trump often did at campaign events. Previously, St. Brown had pointed towards the stands.
Later, another scene with St. Brown caused a stir: In the second quarter, opponent Daron Payne hit him in the helmet with his right hand. Payne was then sent off. “Two plays before, we had a little scuffle, back and forth. Then we scored and I went to him. I said something to him, nothing crazy, and then he decided to come at me,” St. Brown was quoted as saying by sports channel ESPN.
Boos for Trump
Trump did not see the cheers in the first quarter live. At this point he had not yet arrived at his seat. Air Force One, the US President’s plane, had flown low over the Commander’s Stadium just minutes earlier.
“I noticed Trump was going to be at the game,” St. Brown said, according to the Detroit News. “I don’t know how often the president will be at a game, so I decided to have some fun.” When Trump was shown on the video screen in the stadium, some of the spectators booed him.
Trump dance was already popular in the NFL a year ago
St. Brown’s touchdown was the second of the evening for the Lions; running back Jahmyr Gibbs had previously scored for Detroit. In the victory, quarterback Jared Goff impressed with three touchdown passes and gained 320 yards without a bad pass. Gibbs finished the game with two touchdowns.
St. Brown isn’t the first NFL player to imitate Trump’s somewhat awkward dance moves. Especially in the weeks immediately after the election victory a year ago, NFL professionals imitated the so-called Trump dance while celebrating.
US presidents at NFL games are an absolute rarity
According to US media citing the NFL, Trump is only the third sitting US president to personally watch a main round game in the National Football League on site. Before him, only Richard Nixon in 1969 and Jimmy Carter in 1978 had done this. Trump gave an interview to broadcaster Fox during the game, commented on game scenes and, when asked why he liked sports so much, said: “I just love it, it’s a microcosm of life. It’s a bit like life: the good, the bad and the ugly.”
Trump has already attended a number of sporting events since the start of his second term as president, including the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles at the end of last season, the US Open in tennis and the Ryder Cup in golf. The security precautions have to be massively increased every time.
Trump wants to be the namesake of the new Commanders Stadium
There were recent statements from the White House that Trump wanted to have the new Commanders Stadium named after him. “That would be a nice name, because it was President Trump who made the reconstruction of the new stadium possible,” said spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt a few days ago to the portal “The Hill” and ESPN. A senior White House official was also quoted by ESPN as saying, “That’s what the president wants. And it probably will happen.”
The new stadium will primarily serve as the home of the Washington Commanders football team. It is planned with around 65,000 seats and is to be built on the eastern edge of the city on the site of the dilapidated RFK Stadium. The costs are estimated at around 3.7 billion US dollars (3.2 billion euros). As part of the project, a comprehensive redesign of the district is also planned – with shops, apartments and green spaces.
The previous stadium on the Anacostia River, about two miles from the Capitol, is no longer usable. The Commanders have not played there since 1996, but at Northwest Stadium in the neighboring state of Maryland.
