Nick Bosa deleted his pro-Trump tweets specifically on the chance the 49ers draft him. Therefore this post will probably anger some of you on both sides of the spectrum. For that I apologize.
Last night ESPN reported, in a draft profile on Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa, that Bosa reportedly deleted all his pro-Donald Trump tweets and his anti-Colin Kaepernick ones as well. The move was aimed at what Bosa said was a chance that he "might end up in San Francisco."
The story was reported by a variety of sports and news media outlets such as Sports Illustrated, Fox News, The New York Post, USA Today's For the Win, and TMZ, because of course TMZ covered it. It is 49ers news and it is football news and therefore fans may find it interesting to hear what others have to say. Other fans won't and will plead with us to keep it strictly football. That's fair. But this could garner more than one day of national attention as the draft approaches.
Bosa enters the 2019 draft widely regarded as the best player in the current crop of prospects, if not the second best behind Quinnen Williams of Alabama. My own breakdown of him can be read here, but the bottom line is I think he is the best player in the draft and the 49ers should not hesitate to run his card up to the podium if they have the chance to take him. He has the potential to be a game changer along the defensive front that they badly need.
But some fans do not feel this way, as former Niners Nation editor David Fucillo stated today in a post over that the situation leaves him conflicted and it's one that's not easily ignored given Fooch's political views and Bosa's pro-Trump/conservative stance on politics and his outspoken criticism of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. And that's totally fine. Fooch and other fans like him are free and entitled to hold whatever opinions of him they wish to hold. Those of you reading this who follow me on Twitter know that I am an outspoken liberal/leftist/socialist/communist, whatever you want to call me.
And while I respect the views of the former Niner's Nation editor, I respectfully disagree (even though Fooch and myself are very politically aligned). Bosa's views, most of which I think are abhorrent given the current state of the presidential administration, do not detract from the kind of player he is. This presidential administration is also an abomination and a stain on this country that was 60 years in the making. I'm sure Bosa doesn't agree with that. And I could not care less, just as I do not care what he thinks politically because we have that freedom.
I think he deserves a shot to prove to 49ers fans that he's the real deal and can help them win should they choose to draft him. I doubt he's going to be an outspoken critic of the players in a league where he's going to share the same locker room with guys who helped make the anthem protests famous. Some of you more on the left may disagree with me and want him nowhere near the team. That's fine.
I am a veteran of the US military, I have left/socialist-leaning values that I hold dear, and I support Bernie Sanders for president, but I don't expect everyone else to feel the same because this fanbase is so diverse. When I am watching the game I have spent the better part of my life playing, watching, coaching, or writing about, I cannot easily flip off the switch, even if we know the game is probably not healthy for the guys who are playing it. If you are bothered by Bosa's politics, are you also bothered by the CTE scandal? If so, why do you or I or anyone else keep watching and reading these sites?
Those are issues that bother me as a fan. And it's generally why I believe players should go get every red cent they think they're owed for their service to the league. But if you are genuinely thinking about boycotting the NFL over stuff like this, are you ready to completely shut it out of your life and not read, tweet, or post about anything that gives the NFL traffic? Cut your cable and disassociate from cable providers who pay the NFL to run content? Cut off your Amazon Prime?
I don't think any of us are going to do that. I'm certainly not. Some might, and while I admire the courage of your convictions, I cannot say that I would do the same and I cannot say that seeing him in red and gold would bother me one bit. The 49ers also shouldn't pass up this opportunity to draft him.
I think that if you are bothered by it, that you aren't wrong in any way for feeling that. Please don't misconstrue anything here to mean that either. There are legitimate concerns. But at the end of the day, we love this game, and we want our teams and players to be better and do better. The players may not care what you think but they're there to win games for the team and also make a living for themselves and I wouldn't want someone scrutinizing everything I've said or done online or elsewhere over the years to come back on me unfavorably because someone found something I said when I was younger.
Lastly, I'm not sure you actually want to go down that road of saying you don't want some like Bosa on your team. You'd be surprised and shocked to learn how many of your favorite teams' players have political opinions you don't like. For now this should be the end of the conversation unless it comes out that the 49ers passed on him because of this issue. Unless that happens, I will not be taking up anymore of your time with this kind of stuff because it's not what you came here to read, and it's not what I want to be writing about. But I felt this needed to be said.