Olympic gymnast Simone Biles attended the Green Bay Packers game on Sunday, not surprisingly her appearance at Lambeau Field didn’t get as much attention as Taylor Swift’s recent NFL fandom.
But many people claim this is surefire evidence of racism. No, seriously.
Numerous X users posted their frustration that Fox did not obsess over Biles being in the stands as much as the NFL has done for Swift.
As an aside, the NFL’s “Love Story” with the pop star has gone way too far. But I digress.
Biles is married to Packers safety Jonathan Owens, which explains why she was at the game. Social media thought that was enough for her to be worshiped for attending. The fact that she wasn’t - prompted many to suggest the NFL is racist.
well they aren’t white so let’s start there https://t.co/Zia2AC1nqG
— ✩ soojin is coming (@grlsforpink) October 29, 2023
she the wrong complexion for the media to make a big deal outta it https://t.co/38E2ZUl8FE
— Cuffster (@Cuffy__) October 29, 2023
You know they not gonna promote Black love, besides, the Tyler and Kelce is all propaganda. https://t.co/HY8WL2VFwj
— john alcime (@JohnAlcime) October 30, 2023
it won’t cause she’s black. you know how the nfl feel bout black ppl
— DRE (@CarlosCool25) October 29, 2023
Are these people on to something? Do these race-obsessed individuals have a foolproof case that the NFL is a league of good-for-nothing racists who hate black people?
No, they don’t.
Let’s first compare Biles against Swift and see who has more marketing appeal:
- Swift is a world-renown pop star who has won 12 Grammy awards and released countless famous songs.
- Biles is a 4-time Olympic gold medal winner, but in a sport most people only follow once every four years.
- Taylor Swift has 275 million Instagram followers, which is 268 million more than Biles.
Obviously, if you say the name “Simone Biles,” people will probably know you’re talking about an exceptional Olympic athlete. But few people have the same level of name recognition as Swift - in any sphere of culture. Plus, the NFL can’t afford to promote every celebrity who shows up for a game as much as T-Swizzle.
Now let's look at the love interests of these two women. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know by now Swift is dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Once again, there's a massive disparity in name recognition between these two players.
- Owens has played a grand total of 38 games (20 starts) in his five-year career for the Packers and Houston Texans.
- Kelce has two Super Bowl rings, and a convincing case to be considered the best tight end of all time.
- Owens is more known for being the husband of Biles.
- Kelce does commercial ads for some of the biggest companies in America, which unfortunately includes Pfizer and Bud Light.
- Owens plays on a 2-5 team that has few signs - if any - of having a pulse.
- Kelce is arguably the best player on a team that won the Super Bowl last year, and could defend that title this season.
So this has nothing to do with how the NFL “feels about black people” (by the way, over half of the players in the league last year were black). It’s a branding decision, and the NFL chose to write Swift’s name in the blank space of its marketing campaigns.
It’s not racist in the slightest.
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— MRCTV (@mrctv) October 31, 2023
These people really have zero clue what they're trying to welcome into this country. pic.twitter.com/d8HMYwCnTp