Why Nick Bosa made the right decision by silencing his pro-Donald Trump and anti-Colin Kaepernick tweets

Nick Bosa is allowed to believe in whatever he wants.

His beliefs don’t have to align with the team who drafts him. If they do, great. If not, he’ll still have to figure out a way to peacefully coexist in whatever workplace environment he steps into, just as anyone else would have to do.

Bosa hasn’t been shy about his pro-Donald Trump beliefs, nor did he mince words on social media when it came to the Colin Kaepernick discussion. The former Ohio State star and likely top-3 pick has since deleted his pro-Trump tweets, as well as a tweet in which he referred to the former 49ers quarterback as a “clown.”

“I had to,” Bosa told ESPN’s Kevin Van Valkenburg. “There is a chance I might end up in San Francisco.”

Some would disagree with that notion. That is, the notion that Bosa “had to” delete a tweet about Kaepernick, or that he “had to” delete pro-Trump tweets and tweets calling for Hillary Clinton to go to prison.

Was Bosa smart to delete those tweets? Absolutely.

Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Why? For those of you thinking this is going to be some sermon about the “shut up and dribble” request that Laura Ingraham offered up LeBron James, I’m sorry. This isn’t that.

But this is, however, a reminder that freedom of speech doesn’t mean it comes without consequences. The consequence of being vocal about pro-Trump or anti-Kaepernick opinions is that it’ll follow Bosa everywhere he goes. Whether that’s the locker room, a press conference or endorsement deals, it will become a part of the way the public consumes Bosa, whether that’s fair or not. That’s the world we live in.

By making the decision to have a more “bland” social media presence, it showed that Bosa would rather not go into every press conference or public situation and have to deal with questions that don’t have anything to do with football. I can’t say I blame him for that.

And if you’re under the impression that the NFL embraces the idea that players should stand up for what they believe in, look no further than Kaepernick. His public stance on racial inequality — not his play on the field — led to him being blackballed by the league.

Bosa hasn’t even played a down in the NFL yet. The last thing he wants is to give any NFL front office an excuse to say “he’s not worth the distraction.” Now obviously it’s unlikely that’s being said about someone as talented as Bosa, who’s expected to be picked in the top 2 come draft night.

Speaking of draft night, can you imagine if Bosa didn’t make this move and someone decided to dig up every one of his old tweets and release them the night of the first round? They wouldn’t come as a surprise for those of us who followed Bosa on social media dating back to his days as a 5-star recruit. And in all likelihood, anyone who drafts Bosa has already done a deep dive on his social media history.

But this is about public perception. And if a story like that breaks on draft night — when tensions are high and anything out of the ordinary goes viral — the team who drafts him is already having to defend him against its own fans. That’s an unnecessary public relations headache.

By getting out ahead of this a bit, everything about Bosa is on the table ahead of draft night.

Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Bosa now has a platform that’s larger than ever. An NFL front office is going to make an 8-figure investment in him, and it’ll be one that’s closely associated with the livelihood of their own families. They have the right to not make that kind of investment in someone if they believe a player is bringing on unnecessary attention to their organization. That can be related politics, race, religion, criminal history or whatever polarizing issue it is.

Picture this. What if Kaepernick still played for the 49ers and Bosa was drafted by them but he didn’t delete the clown tweet? Better yet, what if Bosa continued to voice his opposition of Kaepernick’s motives and then met him during his first day on the job? Talk about an easy way to divide a locker room.

All because of some tweets?

It’s clear that Bosa recognized the lack of upside for him in this situation. Sure, he might’ve enjoyed needling those who didn’t want to see Trump win the 2016 election, but you know what else he’ll probably enjoy? Becoming an NFL star with tens of millions of dollars without dealing with constant questions about his tweets.

And for what it’s worth, just because he deleted his old tweets doesn’t mean he’ll completely avoid questions about them. But I can guarantee he’ll be asked way less about his politics when he’s not tweeting about them as opposed to the alternative.

In a perfect world, nobody’s beliefs would ever be labeled “a distraction.” Public figures would be able to speak their minds about politics without having to constantly defend themselves. But that’s not the way billion dollar corporations like the NFL work.

That’s really what this comes down to. It’s a business. Bosa made a business decision.

Even better, he made the right business decision.