NFL rookie goes against the grain with Trump comments - 'chance of a lifetime'
We’ve all gotten used to high-profile players and coaches ripping President Donald Trump.
Whether they’re refusing to visit him at the White House (the Golden State Warriors and North Carolina Tar Heels) or trashing him as a “bum” (LeBron James), an “a–hole” (LeSean McCoy) or a “soulless coward” (Gregg Popovich), the expectation is that the attitude toward Trump will be negative.
That’s what makes Washington Redskins rookie running back Derrius Guice’s comments surprising.
The former LSU star was on his way to the NFL Players Association Rookie Premiere event Thursday when he was intercepted at Los Angeles International Airport by TMZ Sports.
Guice was asked if he’d want Trump to be present at FedEx Field for his games.
“Sure, if he want to come. No doubt,” the rookie responded.
The reporter pressed him on the issue, saying that “a lot of players in the league” and people “everywhere across the world” have strong feelings about the president.
“I mean, he’s running this country,” Guice said. “What do you want me to do, hate a guy who’s running this country? I stay in my lane, he stay in his.”
Would he accept an invitation to visit Trump at the White House if the Redskins won the Super Bowl?
“If I get the chance, yeah,” Guice answered. “That’s the chance of a lifetime. They got a lot of history in that White House.”
It seems unlikely that Washington will go from 7-9 to Super Bowl champions — although another NFC East team just did that.
If the Redskins repeat the feat, Guice probably will be a big factor in the turnaround.
He was seen as the second-best running back in the NFL draft after Penn State’s Saquon Barkley, but he fell to the bottom of the second round amid talk of his immaturity and rumors of a shouting match with members of the Philadelphia Eagles staff.
Doug Williams, Washington’s senior vice president of player personnel, defended his rookie running back.
“To be honest with you, he grew up in the area that I grew up,” Williams said, according to NBC Sports. “I know more about him than a lot of folks have known about him. And when you think about this kid from where he comes from and to be in the position that he’s in, you’ve got to applaud the kid, and you know sometimes people will misunderstand a kid that comes out of where he comes out of. There’s an area down in Baton Rouge they call ‘The Bottom.’ Very few young men come out of ‘The Bottom.’”
He noted that Guice “doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, hasn’t been arrested, no failed drug tests. He’s a happy-go-lucky kid.”
The former LSU star made headlines in March when he rescued a woman who was pinned down in her car after a crash.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
