College football is becoming a battle ground for politics ahead of the 2024 United States Presidential Election. The Democrats are flying banners over games to attack Project 2025 and Republican nominee Donald Trump. Trump himself reportedly plans to attend the game of year taking place this weekend in Tuscaloosa: No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs vs. No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide.
Both Georgia and Alabama have dreams of winning the national championship, and the arrival of the new 12-team playoff format this year means this game won’t really make-or-break anyone’s season. It should still be tremendous football: both teams have star quarterbacks with plenty of experience, loaded defenses, and five-star recruits up and down the roster. The fact that Trump will be in the building will raise the stakes. How will the players handle it? When asked, first year Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer gave just about the most diplomatic answer possible.
Kalen DeBoer is asked about former president Donald Trump attending this weekend’s game between Alabama and Georgia in Tuscaloosa: pic.twitter.com/UxoQgVrqoq
— Alabama Crimson Tide | AL.com (@aldotcomTide) September 23, 2024
Here’s a transcription of DeBoer’s quote:
I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of celebrity type people here, people who want to be a part of what’s happening on game day. Everyone is going to be watching, so it will be great to have everyone who wants to come watch be here. For us, I told the guys with GameDay and everything coming here as well, for the guys to try to take as much off their plate other than maybe a few extra interviews towards the end of the week, the main thing is they get prepared to play the best football game they’ve played this year, I always challenge them to play the best football game they’ve ever played in their career. That’s what matters when it comes down to what we can control. It is kind of cool that we have a lot of people who want to come be part of the atmosphere and add to the excitement and energy that the game will bring.
Almost everyone in America has a strong opinion on Trump. You either hate him or love him — not many people are in the middle, and not many people are going to change their minds about him at this point. Alabama is perhaps the reddest state in the union: its electoral votes have gone to Republicans in 11 straight elections. Jimmy Carter was the last Democrat to win the state in a presidential election back in 1976.
How does DeBoer feel about Trump? He did a spectacular job of protecting that when he was asked this question. Saying he supports Trump would have played to the state base in Alabama, but certainly would have opened him up to criticism elsewhere that could come back to haunt him. Saying he disliked Trump would have opened up a big can of worms with the fanbase. This answer was smart and diplomatic, not dissimilar from Angel Reese effectively dodging questions about the election a couple months ago.
DeBoer’s answer feels like the smartest possible way to answer this question in public. He was put in a no-win situation, and barrel rolled out of it like Star Fox.
Alabama-Georgia is going to be electric. Let’s keep the focus on the football field.
