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NFL Takes a Stance On Nick Bosa and Other Star Players Doing the Donald Trump Dance Celebration

Alex Murray
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Nick Bosa

Tampa, Florida, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (97) celebrates after he sacks Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) (not pictured) during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Who would have thought that the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election’s biggest legacy in sports would be President-Elect Donald Trump’s little dance? And yet, here we are.

With all of the political (and not so political) discourse flying around after a, let’s just say, feisty campaign, it’s almost a mercy that the only tangible effect it has had on the NFL is a seemingly innocuous—and objectively funny—little shimmy.

Following Trump’s victory on November 5, NFL fans started to see Trump’s little dance seeping into their Sundays.

For those unaware, the dance in question was a jig Trump has been known to do at his rallies. The most famous and recent iteration occurred when the Village People’s classic hit “YMCA” was played at a rally earlier this year. Donald never does the shimmy for more than three or four seconds, but that’s enough in this age of GIFs and meme accounts.

There have been two weeks of NFL games since the election, and we know of at least a handful of players, and stars at that, giving their own take on Trump’s silly little move. Since the dancing has a political reference attached to it, the NFL had to take a stance on it and they decided to not ban the celebration (via: Jordan Schultz).

The reasoning for their decision came down to the fact that they didn’t believe that it was inappropriate or excessive. An inappropriate celebration might see a player doing one too many hip thrusts, while the Trump dance is innately inexcessive.

Brock Bowers, Nick Bosa, and more have done the Donald Trump dance

Among the most famous of the Trump-dancing troublemakers is Las Vegas Raiders rookie Brock Bowers. The big fellow had his breakout game against the Miami Dolphins this past week, going for 126 yards on 13 grabs. After scoring a TD, his third of the season, he busted out the Trump dance, and some of his teammates joined in too.

We’ve also seen Tennessee Titans wideout Calvin Ridley doing it and a few players on the Lions defense did it after a big fourth-down sack. Trump’s most vocal NFL supporter, Nick Bosa, also got several of his teammates to get in the groove after a sack a couple of weeks ago.

As we said, while the shimmy itself should be fine, the man who popularized it is loved by some and hated by others. That came through pretty clearly in the reactions from fans:

It’s not just American football players either. Those playing soccer are doing it too. U.S. Men’s National Team talisman Christian Pulisic scored a Nations League goal against Jamaica on Monday and did the Trump shimmy. UFC heavyweight champion and No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Jon Jones did the same in the octagon after his dominant win over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309—and he did it right in front of Donald Trump, who was in attendance.

Post Edited By:Sauvik Banerjee

About the author

Alex Murray

Alex Murray

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Alex Murray has been active in the sport media industry since his graduation from the prestigious RTA School of Media at TMU (formerly Ryerson University) in downtown Toronto. He has had a specific focus and interest on all things football and NFL, which stems from his father, who imbued him with a love of football and the NFL over all other sports at a young age. Alex even played football up until his freshman year of college, when he realized that he would find more success writing about rather than playing the sport. Alex has written for a variety of sports media outlets, including theScore, FanSided, FantasyPros, GiveMeSport, and more.

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