The Donald Trump dance is becoming a trend around the NFL.
Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley and Lions defensive end Za’Darius Smith followed Nick Bosa’s lead and celebrated big plays on Sunday with dance moves inspired by the President-elect.
Late in the third quarter of a game against the Miami Dolphins, Bowers caught a pass from quarterback Gardner Minshew. Bowers was able to shake off his defender and scampered into the end zone for Las Vegas’s first touchdown of the day.
As his teammates raced over to celebrate with him, the former University of Georgia product was seen doing Trump’s notorious herking-jerking arm motions – something he noticed while watching UFC 309 on Saturday night.
‘I’ve seen everyone do it,’ Bowers told USA Today following the game. ‘I watched the UFC fight (Saturday) night and Jon Jones did it. I like watching UFC so I saw it, and thought it was cool.’
Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers pulled out a twisting dance after scoring a TD
It’s an homage to the twist dance President-elect Donald Trump broke out while campaigning
The Raiders didn’t include Bowers’ postgame availability with their other postgame videos. His comment on Trump dance wasn’t included in transcripts provided by the team.
But Bowers wasn’t alone on Sunday.
Ridley did the herky-jerky dance while celebrating along with teammate Nick Westbrook-Ikhine during Tennessee’s 23-13 loss to Minnesota. Smith and Malcolm Rodriguez busted it out after a sack in the fourth quarter of Detroit’s 52-6 rout of Jacksonville.
College players have been doing it for weeks and it’s gone international. Even players from the English soccer club Barnsley celebrated a goal with the Trump dance.
Of course, it was San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa who originally pulled out the dance after a sack.
Bosa’s celebration came while he was in hot water with the league for wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat during a post-game interview.
He was eventually fined for that, as the NFL has a rule against players promoting political messages through clothing while in uniform.
Za’Darius Smith (right) and Malcolm Rodriguez (left) busted it out the dance after a sack
Fan reaction online has been somewhat split.
‘Crazy how the “keep politics out of sports” is nonexistent when it’s MAGA related,’ one fan wrote on X.
One person called it ‘the lamest dance ever.’
But countless others were enthused to see Trump referenced on an NFL field.
‘Love it,’ wrote several commenters on X.
‘For the first time in my life, the Right is cooler than the left,’ one enthusiastic fan.
‘Jon Jones did the Trump dance last night. Calvin Ridley and his teammate do it today. Wild vibe shift.’
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