Deadspin Presents: Top 10 presidential endorsements from sports stars, Part I: Trumpsters

There’s politics in everything, and sports is no different, so it’s not surprising that many figures in the sports world have decided to use their platform as public figures to make their feelings known about the upcoming presidential election.

These are a few of the sports people who have thrown their support behind Donald Trump for the 2020 election ...

The Hall of Fame quarterback, last seen ripping off low-income families in Mississippi by taking a million bucks for a charity PSA, at least until he was called on it, did not include “amazing at fraud” in his endorsement of Donald Trump, instead citing “freedom of speech & religion, 2nd Amnd, hard working tax paying citizens, police & military.” The ol’ gunslinger loves actual guns, too, eh?

Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rivera (above), and they palled around a bit at the White House, a neat reminder that one of Trump’s dumbest lies was that the Yankees invited him to throw out the first pitch in front of no fans at a game this August against the Red Sox.

Nothing here has changed since 2016, except for the former Red Sox and Diamondbacks ace having gotten himself on the advisory board of the Build the Wall PAC, which allegedly defrauded hundreds of thousands of people.

Sure, COVID-19 almost killed him, but that’s not going to stop the former Florida State coach from backing his guy. In fact, Bowden said he wanted to beat the virus specifically so he could vote for Trump. That makes … no sense, but here we are, such as it is.

It’s great that Strawberry beat his drug addiction, and finding God helps a lot of people do that. In Strawberry’s case, he’s fallen in with celebrity evangelists, and as a former “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant, it becomes even less astonishing that he not only supports Trump, but has done campaign events.

Not surprisingly for someone who was once a possible Senate candidate in Illinois as the Republicans sought an opponent for Barack Obama, and having called GOPers who didn’t support Trump in 2016 “a bunch of assholes,” Da Coach remains on the Trump Train.

Friends with Trump since his days with the USFL’s New Jersey Generals, Walker highlighted Trump’s business acumen in his Republican National Convention speech. Walker also cited Trump’s priority of putting family first, which is true when it comes to grift, sure, but not so much when it comes to honoring marriage vows.

Not only did the former Notre Dame coach speak at the Republican National Convention, he took that opportunity to say Joe Biden is a “Catholic in name only,” which was pretty rich from a guy who also said Trump “genuinely cares about people.”

The LSU coach is good friends with Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, but when it comes to presidential politics… alright, it just seems like Or, and that issue is getting on the football field.

Having ejected Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo from a game for not wearing a mask in his stadium box, the longtime umpire said, “If it was Donald Trump, I’d eject him, too. But I’d still vote for him.” Somehow, this makes West more ethically qualified to serve on the federal bench than many of the judges Trump has put there.

Some former athletes are running for office as Republicans, so not surprisingly, they’re also fully behind Trump. That includes former pro wrestler Dan Rodimer and retired NFL player Burgess Owens, each running for Congress, and Alabama senatorial candidate and former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville. Given Trump’s affinity for golf, it’s also no surprise to see men from that sport lined up behind him, including Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, and John Daly. Oh, and Mike Tyson, because of course Mike Tyson.