On Sunday, October 27, 2024, San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa walked onto the field during his teammate’s postgame interviews. He interrupted a group of players speaking to the press to gesture at his hat, which read Donald Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.” This moment tainted the 49ers’ primetime victory and Bosa’s own performance in the game. However, Bosa has not yet faced any consequences. 

The 49ers have a history with treatment of players who take political stances. Previously, the San Francisco 49ers released quarterback Colin Kaepernick from his contract after he began taking a knee during the national anthem to protest against police brutality. The league clamored that politics do not belong in sports when Kaepernick, a Black man, made a politically driven statement pertaining to social justice and his own community. Kaepernick never played professionally again, and although the league claims that he was released because of his performance, it should be clear to anyone with critical thinking skills that his actions ruffled the feathers of the league and its organizations. 

When it was a Black man making a statement for social justice, the consensus from white Americans was that politics do not belong in professional sports. Now, Bosa, a white man, has made a political statement, but will he face any consequences for it? It is time to force the San Francisco 49ers and the National Football League to hold white players to the same standard as players of color.

Nick Bosa’s actions should warrant a one-game suspension or at the very least a fine. George Kittle, another 49ers player whose Bosa interrupted, was fined $13,659 last season for unsportsmanlike conduct after wearing a T-shirt with a charged statement referring to a team rivalry. Nick Bosa's attire was much more charged, speaking on a level that affects an entire country instead of two NFL teams and their fanbases. He deserves to be suspended or at least fined for it. Actions deserve consequences, even those of white NFL players. 

Colin Kapernick should have been the last time that a team so egregiously mishandled a player's politics on the field. Nick Bosa should not get away with a slap on the wrist for making a more political statement than Kaepernick.