It’s been over a week, but the fallout from Jaxson Dart’s appearance at a Donald Trump rally has continued to dominate the NFL world. The New York Giants quarterback walked on to that stage in Suffern, New York, to introduce Trump, which is what most NFL public debates are focusing on.
Will the move fracture the Giants’ locker room, or will things move ahead peacefully? Two NFL legends, Aqib Talib and Dez Bryant, weigh in on the conversations from their own playing days.
Aqib Talib and Dez Bryant Reject the Locker Room Division Narrative
Talib used the latest episode of “The Arena: Gridiron” to address the broader question of whether political differences actually disrupt an NFL team. The former Denver Broncos cornerback laid out the locker room’s makeup before getting to his point.
“It’s so many different upbringings, so many different backgrounds in the league,” Talib said. “Man, you got dudes from the hood, from the suburbs, from the country, from the city. You got white dudes who grew up with black dudes, they act black a little bit. You got black dudes who grew up with white dudes, they act white a little bit. You’re going to have different political views. You’re going to have different religious views. I don’t think it impacts the locker room.”
He then leaned in and challenged the entire premise that politics belongs in the no-go zone in a locker room.
“They say, you’re not supposed to talk about politics, man, f**k tha, the locker room talk about everything,” Talib continued. “And you’re going to have guys who believe something you don’t believe. And you’re all gonna talk about it and probably turn it into jokes.”
To add weight to what he said, Talib pulled a personal example of his teammate and Broncos’ former defensive lineman, Derek Wolfe. Wolfe was publicly vocal about Trump in a way that the modern narrative wouldn’t have digested.
“Sh*t we had in our locker room, we had my dog, Derek Wolfe. He loved Trump,” Talib added. “He was adamant about it. He f**king loved Trump. Trump going to do this, Trump going to do that, we used to argue with him and play around and laugh and joke.”
But instead of lashing out at him, the Broncos squad ended up at Wolfe’s wedding together. “And at the end of the day, we all was at the wedding. He had married and we all up there at the wedding, kicking it like, that’s our brother. To this day, we link up. Wolfe, that’s my brother. He loved Trump. Oh well, it is what it is.”
Per Talib, the thing that divides a locker room isn’t a player’s voting record or political affiliations. “It had never disrupt the locker room because that’s not what we there for. We here to win chips. It’s guys from all different walks of life. We coming together to win the chip. Now, if there’s a guy here, like ‘bruh, I’m making my cash, I don’t give a f**k about winning bruh, now that’s gonna cause a riff raff in the locker room.”
Dez Bryant amplified the clip on X with a short stamp of approval, writing, “This is real talk!…”
The former Dallas Cowboys’ wide receiver co-signing and pushing back on the ‘Dart-divides-the-locker-room’ debate carries a lot of weight.
The Backdrop To the Jaxson Dart Trump Rally Controversy
Dart took the stage at Rockland Community College in Suffern on May 22 to introduce Trump in front of a crowd of around 5,000 at a rally backing Republican Rep. Mike Lawler.
The second-year Giants quarterback chanted “Go Big Blue” before describing himself as “grateful,” “honored,” and “pleasured” to introduce the 45th and 47th president. Trump returned the embrace and called Dart “a future Hall of Famer.”
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
Dart immediately received a lot of backlash for doing so, starting with his teammate, Abdul Carter, who posted on X, “Thought this s*** was AI, what we doing man,” in a since-deleted message.
The Giants held an internal team meeting on Tuesday, May 26, where, according to NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Jameis Winston all addressed the situation alongside Dart. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported that one of the central topics was the importance of keeping internal matters internal.
Three days later at OTAs on Friday, Dart spoke publicly for the first time. He read from a prepared statement that ran close to five minutes, citing his family’s military background and his respect for the office of the president.
Carter spoke separately and stressed that he and Dart “don’t have beef.” Veteran backup quarterback Jameis Winston also told reporters that the team was ‘in a good place now.’
The Giants open their season against the Dallas Cowboys on September 13.
