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With the NFL mostly silent on the election, Alex Smith made a small political statement

Frank Schwab
NFL writer

The NFL has been strangely quiet about the 2016 presidential election, so a safety pin on a quarterback seemed to be a pretty loud commentary.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith wore a safety pin on his shirt at news conferences after Sunday’s game. Since the election, many have put safety pins on their shirts as a show of solidarity for minority groups who feel threatened after the election. Some could see it as a sign of protest over President-elect Donald Trump.

(NFL.com screen shot)
(NFL.com screen shot)

This isn’t exactly San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s rant, but since there haven’t been many prominent voices in the NFL for or against the election results, it stands out. And it’s kind of funny that Smith is one of the few who has made any kind of verbal or non-verbal statement because he’s not known as being outspoken, and ironically enough his turnover-averse style of play with the Chiefs has been derided at times as too conservative.

It’s still not clear why Smith wore the pin, though it obviously wasn’t an accident. It’s a lot more than most NFL players and coaches have said about recent political results.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!