Award-winning journalist Jim Trotter has accused The Athletic – the sports website owned by the New York Times – of ‘watering down’ his column on Nick Bosa’s ‘Make America Great Again’ hat.
Ahead of the US presidential election, the San Francisco 49ers star interrupted a post-game interview with teammates Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Isaac Guerendo on NBC.
Bosa poked his head between Purdy and reporter Melissa Stark to point at a cap which carried the infamous slogan of the Republican nominee Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Trotter wrote a column on the incident, entitled: ‘When it comes to political expression, does the NFL have double standards?’
The writer compared the league’s reaction to Bosa’s stunt and how Colin Kaepernick and Co were treated after taking the knee during the national anthem.
San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa (center) wore a MAGA cap live on NBC Sunday night
Journalist Jim Trotter (C) wrote a column on Bosa, asking if the NFL has ‘double standards’
After the article was published, however, Trotter took to social media to claim his words had been edited by his employer.
‘Full disclosure, this is the watered-down version of the original column,’ he said.
‘I was not allowed to properly, IMO, contextualize the significance and consequence of the moment because, I was told, I’d be in violation of the NYT’s journalistic standards regarding sports and political commentary.’
Trotter later clarified his comments, adding: ‘Correction: I should have referred to it as a violation of The Athletic’s journalistic standards and not the journalistic standards of the NYT.’
Back in 2022, the New York Times reached an agreement to buy The Athletic for $550million.
The following year, the newspaper announced it had disbanded its sports department and would primarily rely on The Athletic for coverage.
‘Full disclosure, this is the watered-down version of the original column,’ the NYT writer said
Nick Bosa was reluctant to speak about his Donald Trump hat following the game
In the column, Trotter argued that ‘if the goal of the NFL is to keep political expressions off its fields, then Bosa should face some type of discipline.’
He added: ‘Failure to take some sort of action would suggest the presence of a double standard and raise the question of whether the league is more comfortable with a White player using its national spotlight to endorse a presidential candidate than it is with Black players demonstrating against systemic racism.’
Trotter claimed that Kaepernick was ‘blackballed for fighting for social justice’ but that ‘Bosa gets, what? Ignored by the league and applauded by far-right supporters who otherwise demand that athletes, specifically Black athletes, stick to sports?’
After the 49ers’ win over the Cowboys, Bosa sidestepped a question related to the incident.
‘I’m not gonna talk too much about it, but I think it’s an important time,’ he said on the podium – with a different cap on his head.
