Post-Kaepernick, many detractors have argued that politics should be kept out of football. However, America apparently doesn’t think that football needs to be kept out of politics, as two former NFL players were elected in to Congress for the first time last night.
Ohio – the home of the NFL Hall of Fame – declared former Indianapolis Colts 2007 first round pick Anthony Gonzalez as their 16th congressional district winner.
The former receiver spent five years in the league following a successful college career at Ohio State. After retiring in 2012, the Ohio native earned an MBA from Stanford before filing to run for Congress last August. His football connections served him well as his Republican campaign received donations from high profile figures such as Peyton Manning, Jimmy Haslam and Austin Collie.
On the other side of the aisle, Democrat Colin Allred was an undrafted free agent linebacker who spent four years with the Tennessee Titans. After his career came to an end in 2010, he too returned to college, earning a law degree from UC Berkeley.
Allred lacked the big name NFL donors Gonzalez had. Rather, in unseating long-time GOP representative Pete Sessions, he was pitted against the league. Sessions’ campaign had received thousands of dollars in donations from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Jones’ wife, son, daughter and even former Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach. It could be said that Allred’s 32nd district Texas win marked the second time this week that a Titan has marched in and upset the Cowboys in Dallas.
Impressively, Gonzalez and Allred weren’t the only league veterans to appear on ballots last night. Running for local positions, were former linebacker Napoleon Harris, tight end Clint Didier and safety Aaron Rouse.
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