Award-winning journalist Jim Trotter has accused The Athletic – the sports website of 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 and pointed to a cap with Republican candidate Donald Trump’s infamous slogan.
On Tuesday, Trotter wrote a column about the incident, titled, “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 a knee during the national anthem.
San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa (center) wore a MAGA cap live on NBC on Sunday night
Journalist Jim Trotter (C) wrote a column about Bosa, asking whether the NFL has ‘double standards’
However, after the article was published, 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, IMO, to properly contextualize the meaning and implications of the moment because I was told I would be violating the NYT’s journalistic standards regarding sports and political commentary.”
Trotter later clarified his comments, adding, “Correction: I should have called it a violation of The Athletic’s journalistic standards and not the NYT’s journalistic standards.”
In 2022, the New York Times reached an agreement to purchase The Athletic for $550 million.
The following year, the newspaper announced that it had disbanded its sports section and would rely primarily on The Athletic for reporting.
“Full disclosure, this is the watered down version of the original column,” the NYT writer said
Nick Bosa was reluctant to talk about his Donald Trump hat after the game
In the column, Trotter argued that “if the NFL’s goal is to keep political speech out of its purview, Bosa should undergo some form of discipline.”
He added: “Failure to take any kind of action would suggest the presence of a double standard and raise the question of whether the league would be more comfortable with a white player using his national spotlight to support a presidential candidate than when black players demonstrate. against systemic racism.”
Trotter claimed that Kaepernick was “blackballed for fighting for social justice,” but that “Bosa gets, what? Ignored by the league and cheered on by far-right supporters who otherwise demand that athletes, especially black athletes, stick to the sport?”
After the 49ers’ win over the Cowboys, Bosa sidestepped a question regarding the incident.
“I’m not going to talk about it too much, but I think it’s an important time,” he said on stage – with another cap on his head.
