Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans sat during the pregame national anthem Sunday in protest of Donald Trump being elected president after running a campaign largely built on The Sex Factor Episode 8 Playing With The Prosbigotry and xenophobia.
You can probably guess what came next. Yup -- backlash.
SEE ALSO: Everyone's sharing this Ernie Johnson election monologue, but here's why it's off the mark“If this happens, then America’s not right right now,” Evans said post-game of Donald Trump being sworn in. “I said this a long time ago. When [Donald Trump] ran, I thought it was a joke, and the joke continues. I’m not a political person that much, but I got common sense. And I know when something’s not right.”
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Evans is hardly alone in his sentiment, as protests nationwide have shown. But his silent statement of resistance -- and that it was staged on a day the Buccaneers honored military veterans -- predictably set some people off.
"I think it's outrageous," Republican Florida State Sen. Jack Latvala said, per the Tampa Bay Times. "What he's done is, disrespected them, he's disrespected the flag, the national anthem and our whole country."
"I just think it's wrong, it's selfish, and I'm tired of it," Latvala added. "I frankly think they (players) forget who really pays their salary, and it's people who go to games."
Latvala later tweeted, "I will exercise my own right to protest by not setting foot" in the Bucs' stadium until Evans "either apologizes or is off the team!"
Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano piggybacked on Latvala's criticism and even threatened the team with financial harm.
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On Twitter and Facebook, fans expressed both admiration and resentment of Evans' protest -- but ESPN host Sage Steele did not hold back in her social media criticism.
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Don't expect Evans to change his mind anytime soon, though.
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"The men and women who serve this country, I’m forever indebted to them," he said after Sunday's game. "But the things that’s been going on in America lately, I’m not going to stand for that. When Ashton Kutcher comes out and says we’ve been punked, then I’ll stand again. But I won’t stand anymore."
