Posted on 08/17/2015 9:55:59 AM PDT by Red Steel
Football coaches face a tough choice anytime they’re asked to play politics: Do so, and they risk alienating their fan base for a reason other than play calling or defensive schemes. Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh took the plunge Saturday, when he agreed with Donald Trump’s idea to build a border fence to keep out illegal immigrants coming from Mexico.
At an otherwise boring press conference Saturday afternoon, Harbaugh, who’s won a Super Bowl and is no stranger to dealing with media, was asked a question about officiating during the ongoing NFL preseason. Somehow, his answer drifted into politics, with Harbaugh referencing the 2016 GOP presidential frontrunner.
“I’m going Trump here,” Harbaugh told reporters after the Saturday practice, according to the Baltimore Sun. “Build the wall. If you don’t have a border, you don’t have a country. You’re not a country without a border, right?”
He continued: “At the same time, you’ve got 12 to 15 million hard-working people here. Give them a shot. Give them a chance to become a citizen so they’re paying taxes. All of us know that it’s not that complicated, but this side doesn’t want to solve it, neither does [the other] side. Neither one of them want to solve the problem. Solve the problem.”
The coach’s comments are more proof that Trump’s campaign, once thought to be a sideshow to a more serious race between conventional candidates like Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, is now firmly in the mainstream of U.S. presidential politics. The real estate mogul continues to surge in the polls, holding a large lead over the rest of the field; a recent Fox News poll shows 25 percent of likely GOP voters back him. His closest rival is surgeon Ben Carson, another outsider candidate. Apparently Harbaugh, who’s busy preparing for the upcoming season, has taken notice.
The coach’s comments have the potential to alienate him from Hispanics; Harbaugh has associated himself with a candidate that has described some Mexican immigrants as rapists who bring guns and crime into the United States. At the same time, the Ravens coach laid out a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a position at odds with that of every GOP candidate, including Trump. Whether that’s enough for the coach’s comments to fade from public memory before the league’s annual Hispanic Heritage Month, or if they put off the Raven’s Latino fanbase, remains to be seen.
IF the correct number of illegals inside the USA is much closer to 55 million-—how many Americans would be open-minded about letting them all stay here & work?
We have over 27 million people on unemployment or have used up all their benefits & still are not working, while illegals are working.
Don’t tell me Americans won’t do the same work. Not sure.
What if Pearl Harbor happened today?
Would THIS version of American be up & running in a strong war effort like it was in 1941-42?
I think not. We have become too entitled & too lazy.
A war is coming—right here on US soil & it won’t be pretty. People are tired of the invasion of the illegals.
I guess we'll find out if Trump gets elected.
Don’t want no tatted thugs competin’ with HIS tatted thugs.
Man, he’s making me want to root for the Ravens. I’m going to have to get a hat and everything.
Don’t we all? The media acts like this is a horrific idea.
Well I am pretty sure you don't. Are you American? :~)
I work with some landscapers and carpenters. The lower level guys mostly seem to be foreigners, but the higher up the skill set you go, the more Americans.
I fire up the lawn mower now and then but hire out for the serious yard work. Just last night, I ordered a 22” mulcher blade on Amazon.com.
It makes me like John Harbaugh more, but nothing would make me root for the Ravens...
Uh oh. The NFL is gonna be backpedaling from that faster than you can say “Donovan McNabb is overrated”.
I am above all that now, moved upstairs and if no one mows, I don't care.
GO RAVENS!!
Go Harbaugh!
Building an impenetrable barrier, even where it's not especially needed, sends an awesome message.
Building an impenetrable barrier where it is needed, keeps invaders out and sends a Trumptastically, awesomely yuge message.
As a NY Jets fan, I always need a backup team.
Yes there are but they won’t work for $5.00 an hour, so they don’t get hired by companies.
I got a local 29 year old been doing work for me for past three years at my house. Not illegal or Hispanic. I pay better than $5.00 an hour though.
“I wonder if there are any Americans still out there that mow lawns, rake leaves or do roofing.”
In Texas the answer is CLEARLY NO. But then we have an army of millenials with useless college educations and huge debt. Make them a deal - they spend 2 months in Harbaugh’s training camp working off the flab of 25 years of video games and then pay them $20 to work a REAL JOB, out in the field, with that money being enough to start burning down the debt from their useless college degrees.
Did I miss one of Trumps speeches? I have never heard him say a word about “Mexican immigrants.” I head him describe some Mexican illegal aliens as rapists.
Indeed. Give them a shot back in their countries of origin.
Maryland "Freak State" PING!
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