Giants linebacker Mark Herzlich said he wants to invite President Trump to a “conversation” with players about the national anthem protests.
The 2012 Super Bowl champion said he wants to invite Trump to a Giants training camp to discuss the protests with the team, according to Pro Football Talk.
“I think the best way to handle remarks like that is it’s not necessarily a push back against his remarks. It’s to maintain the focus on the real issue,” Herzlich told the media. “The real issue isn’t players being against a president or against a country. It’s about players being for unity, and they want to create an atmosphere with law enforcement, with others in their community that we share in the locker room.
“You go in the locker room, and guys from every single race, every single demographic, every single religious background, and we all are just a team. And so I think we see that, what’s possible. And I would love Trump to come down here and hang out in our locker room and see what locker room talk’s really about, and talking about our night nurses and our babies — this is what we talk about, it’s a family,” he added.
Though Herzlich wants to host this meeting with the president, Trump has already offered to have just such a discussion with a long list of players and personalities including Kanye West and even former San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Yet, many of these famous names are being pressured not to attend any events put on by the president. ESPN’s activist host Jemele Hill, for instance, called Trump’s invitation to Kaepernick a “hollow” offer.
Indeed, after inviting convicted rapper Meek Mill to his race summit, Mill was convinced to back out of the event by fellow rapper Jay Z.
Moreover, after the NFL announced its new rule requiring fines for teams whose players protest the anthem, one might assume the issue has been decided. Specifically, one might think that the issue has been decided in Trump’s favor. So, what would be the point of Trump meeting with the players after he’s already won?
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.