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Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St Brown has apologized to anyone who was offended by his “Trump Dance” during his team’s victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday.
St Brown performed the dance – which has become popular with athletes over the last year – during the game, which the US president attended.
The dance attracted backlash on social media, and the player addressed the criticism on the podcast he hosts with his brother, Equanimeous, who has also played in the NFL.
“First of all, if I offended anyone, I do apologize. I did not mean to offend anyone. It was just, we’re having fun,” Amon-Ra St Brown said on the St Brown Podcast. “If any president was at that game and had a dance I would have done it. It had nothing to do with who the president was.”
Trump missed seeing the dance in person: St Brown’s rendition came after he scored a touchdown in the first quarter, before the president arrived. Trump did, however, post a clip of the receiver’s dance to social media later with a caption calling him “Amon-Ra St Trump”.
Trump has a testy relationship with the league and its players, although he has support from NFL stars such as Nick Bosa and Harrison Butker and attended last season’s Super Bowl. During his first term, he described NFL players protesting against social injustice as “sons of bitches”. In his second term he has urged the Commanders to revert to their previous racist nickname and attacked the league’s decision to choose Trump critic Bad Bunny to play the Super Bowl’s halftime show this season.
“We were just having fun, doing the dance. Nothing more, nothing less,” St Brown said on the podcast.
On Sunday, Trump became the first sitting president to attend a regular-season NFL game since Jimmy Carter in 1978. Trump was booed by large sections of the crowd, and reports have emerged that he wants the Commanders to name their new stadium after him.
