How do you reconcile your favorite sports team being intertwined with a politician you despise? You start a (small) movement.
For many Patriots fans, supporting the team has felt like supporting Donald Trump. For those whose politics and morals don’t square with the president’s, it has been difficult cheering on Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft, the engineers of a squad that will face off with the Falcons in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Brady has had a well-publicized friendship with Trump, which the quarterback has learned not to talk about. Belichick wrote the then-campaigning Republican nominee a letter in November, congratulating Trump on dealing with an “unbelievable slanted and negative media and [coming out] beautifully.” Kraft, the team owner, has not hidden his Trump support, calling him a longtime pal and allowing the businessman on the Patriots sidelines in the past.
“I’d like to be able to cheer for the team I grew up loving without cheerleading the Trump administration,” wrote Josh Gondelman, a writer for HBO’s “Last Week Tonight.” Instead of boycotting the Super Bowl, he started a hashtag.
With each Patriots touchdown, Gondelman said he will donate $100 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. With each New England field goal, he says he’ll give $50, each time rooting on #AGoodGame.
Other Trump-wary Pats fans have followed, choosing a charity or cause of their choice to donate money with each Patriots score, finding a reason to cheer the same way Trump will be cheering on Sunday.
$20/ Pats TD and $10/ Pats FG to the National Resources Defense Council. @NRDC @Patriots @joshgondelman #AGoodGame
— Kelly Zeoli (@kelly_mmz) February 4, 2017
Annoyed at Pats-Trump political stories? Join me in donating 2 progressive causes for every Pats TD #AGoodGame #SB51 https://t.co/2nriNq5Z5P
— Brian Farnkoff (@BrianFarnkoff) February 4, 2017
Lifetime New Englander, here. Gonna donate $100 for every Patriot touchdown to the @ACLU to offset Brady/Bill/Kraft's Trumpism. #AGoodGame pic.twitter.com/BPDvwnKAWG
— T. Blake Littwin (@TBLittwin) February 4, 2017
@joshgondelman I'm in. $50 to the Southern Poverty Law Center for each Pats TD or FG. Thx for the idea. Now I can enjoy game #AGoodGame
— Cathi Iuliano (@AlbanyCat2) February 3, 2017
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