Brock Bowers did the “cool” Donald Trump dance to celebrate a touchdown and it led to claims of his media availability being cut short by the Raiders after being asked about it.
The Las Vegas tight end broke into the two-handed shimmy made famous by the President-elect during his campaign rallies after scoring on a 23-yard reception in the third quarter of the Raiders’ eventual 34-19 loss to the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
A few of his teammates also joined in.
Bowers, who had a career-high 13 catches for 126 yards, was asked about it by USA Today’s Safid Deen as other athletes have done the Trump dance.
Those included Detroit Lions defensive end Za’Darius Smith, Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley, 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa and UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones after his win at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
“I’ve seen everyone do it,” Bowers said, according to Deen. “I watched the UFC fight last night and Jon Jones did it. I like watching UFC so I saw it, and thought it was cool.”
Deen then claimed the Raiders’ public relations team ended Bowers’ availability.
While the Raiders did post the video of Bowers doing the dance to their social media, the rookie’s interview was not included in the players’ interview video on the team’s official YouTube channel. It did include video of fellow tight end Michael Mayer, who had just one catch.
CBS is also being accused of editing the dance out of its highlight of Bowers’ grab.
His quote was not provided in the transcript reporters received from the Dolphins – which included just three answers.
Bowers, 21, is off to a tremendous start to his career with 70 catches for 706 yards and three touchdown grabs, even with the Raiders at a disappointing 2-8.