Update: Jim Trotter tweeted that he should have referred to the violation of The Athletic’s journalistic standards rather than New York Times.

Additionally, a spokesperson for The Athletic told Awful Announcing in a statement: “The New York Times standards played no role in this process. The story followed the normal editing process at The Athletic. We do not publicly discuss our editorial decision-making.

Correction: I should have referred to this as a violation of The Athletic’s journalistic standards and not The New York Times’ journalistic standards.

– Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) October 29, 2024

Original story continues below.

---

It hasn’t even been two calendar days since Nick Bosa disrupted his teammates’ postgame interview with a political statement, but it’s already taken on a life of its own.

Those who criticize the San Francisco 49ers star — like Bomani Jones — brought to life the idea that if Bosa feels so strongly about his support for Donald Trump, then maybe he should speak out about it.

But when given the opportunity to do so, Bosa didn’t give much credence to his own opinion. And even if Bosa I had little to say When given a prime opportunity to clarify support for the Republican presidential nominee, others didn’t hesitate to speak up. Although Bosa’s right to express his opinion and expand on it if he wished was defended, questions inevitably arose.

These questions reflect how differently this played out compared to a former 49ers player being crucified by the league after making his own political statement and clarifying his position. Of course, we’re referring to Colin Kaepernick, who The Athletic’s Jim Trotter wrote about in his article on Tuesday. column:

“Bosa has every right to support whoever he wants. As the saying goes, it is a free country. But the display – and the intentionality behind it – was curious given that the NFL has gone to great lengths over the past eight years to prevent players from expressing themselves politically during games…

“The concern is whether the NFL could show that it has double standards when it comes to players’ political expressions. Kaepernick gets sidelined for fighting for social justice, and Bosa gets what? Ignored by the league and applauded by far-right supporters who otherwise demand that athletes, especially black athletes, stick to the sport?

Trotter’s opinions are strong, but according to the longtime journalist, they aren’t strong enough.

But it wasn’t for lack of trying, as Trotter took direct aim at his own employer.

He took to X (formerly Twitter) and candidly shared that readers had seen a “watered down version” of his real, pure thoughts. According to Trotter, he was not given the freedom to “properly contextualize the meaning and consequences of the moment,” but was instead told that doing so would violate The Athletic’s journalistic standards for sports and political commentary.

Full disclosure, this is the watered-down version of the original column. I was not allowed to properly, in my opinion, contextualize the meaning and consequences of this moment because, I was told, I would be violating The New York Times’ journalistic standards in sports and politics…

– Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) October 29, 2024

Trotter said he fought for his words to be published as they are but does not own them New York Times or Athletics. Instead, The Athletic’s subscribers are left with what the author calls a “watered down version,” a column that apparently pushes Bosa and the National Football League even further than it needs to. had done initially.

Trotter joined The Athletic from NFL Network did not renew his contract just a few weeks later he asked Roger Goodell about diversity issues within the league’s media. The longtime reporter/columnist recently settled a racial discrimination lawsuit against the league over his departure.

A little over a year ago, Trotter rented the freedom and support he expected from Timescompany-owned point of sale.

“I no longer have to fear that my words will be watered down or completely silenced,” he said at the time.

Today, that same freedom and support seems more elusive than ever.

(Jim Trotter)