Saban’s Golf Outing With Trump Raises Political Ire
Former Alabama Head Football Coach Nick Saban is not unfamiliar with hate mail. As one of the winningest football coaches of all time he has received plenty of it from fans of defeated foes. Now he is catching it politically because he was part of a golfing foursome today that included President Trump.
White House Press Pool reporters John McCullen and Jake Sherman reported that Saban and Trump were joined by former Florida and Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for a round of golf today.
Politico wrote that the foursome reportedly hit the links at the president's golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida after a meeting to discuss name, image and likeness (NIL).
Saban has had discussions with Trump, on more than one occasion, about the negative impact name, image and likeness (NIL) is having on college athletics. Trump has even discussed appointing Saban to head up a Presidential Commission to study the impact of NIL and what can be done to return sanity to college sports.
Saban has told reporters on more than one occasion that Trump understands there is a need to support giving players value while not destroying college athletics.
As soon as word broke of the golf game, social media exploded with hateful comments about Saban and Meyer joining Trump and DeSantis for the Sunday outing. Some saying they no longer like Saban among other, even more harsh comments. Some of the miler criticism was...
“I thought Nick Saban might be a decent man. Evidently not,” one fan wrote in a post on X liked 76 times.
“I used to like Nick Saban,” another fan added.
Who did he play with dumb and dumber? Yet another remarked. on NFL Memes's.
To add context to the outing. Saban, who retired after the 2023 season, is believed to be a Democrat but has said he appreciates that Trump is an avid sports fan
Trump has visited two Alabama home football games and was at one of Alabama's national title games. He has also attended an Alabama graduation ceremony and welcomed the Crimson Tide football team to the White House in recognition of winning a national championship.
Both Saban and Trump have gone on record pointing out that million-dollar NIL deals are not sustainable
At a congressional NIL roundtable sponsored by Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville in 2024 Saban made his feeling plain, ""I don't think it's ever been the spirit of what we want college athletics to be. That's my major concern: the combination of pay-for-play, free agency, and how that impacts development.
"All the things that I believed in for all these years, 50 years of coaching, no longer exist in college athletics. It was always about developing players. It was always about helping people be more successful in life."
The White House has not revealed any information about the meeting or the golf outing.
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