Dan Le Batard thinks Patrick Mahomes, other athletes are obligated to oppose Trump on Protect College Sports

Former ESPN host is consistent in the standard he applies to when athletes should and should not comment on issues outside of sports.

"Speak up for what I agree with or shut up and play ball" is his standard.

On Monday, Le Batard shamed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes for not publicly opposing the Protect College Sports Act, legislation backed by President Donald Trump and his administration.

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"Patrick Mahomes, get your helmet out of your a--. Do some leading here," an emotional Le Batard shouted on YouTube. "Youve got a lot of power ... do you want to participate in the adult games, or do you just want to play football?"

To answer that question, Mahomes just wants to play football.

He has said so.

Following the 2024 shooting at Super Bowl parade, Mahomes led not with activism but with actions. He donated money to an aid fund for victims and visited some of the wounded in the hospital.

He later explained in a Time Magazine profile that he does not believe it is his place to shift public opinion on complicated political issues like gun control.

"I continue to educate myself," Mahomes said of the issue. "I don't want to make a quick response to something that takes a lot of education to really learn and make a swaying comment based off that. But I know we have to find a solution of some way to make this stuff stop."

Likewise, Mahomes declined to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

"I dont want to pressure anyone to vote for a certain president," he told the outlet. "I want people to use their voice, whoever they believe in. I want them to do the research."

Perhaps his restraint is partly why the Chiefs surpassed the Dallas Cowboys as the leading national draw in the NFL. Like Michael Jordan, Mahomes is polarizing because of his greatness, not because he has deliberately divided his audience along political lines.

Jordan and Mahomes are arguably the two biggest individual draws in the recent history of their respective sports. That is not a coincidence.

More importantly, Patrick Mahomes does not owe anyone an opinion on legislation. He doesn't owe anyone an opinion on anything but his own actions.

The amusing part is that if Mahomes spoke out in support of the bill, Le Batard would almost certainly demand his silence. He'd then call on the media to hold Mahomes accountable. That's how Le Batard when Jaxson Dart introduced President Trump on stage, Aaron Rodgers questioned the effectiveness of the COVID vaccines and various UFC fighters embraced Trump.

Do you notice a pattern?

Le Batard presents his personal political preferences as universal moral imperatives. He sees silence as cowardice when he wants an athlete to speak. He sees political expression as irresponsible when he wants an athlete to stay silent.

Dan Le Batard is a hypocrite.

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He recently made headlines by accusing ESPN of favoring White talent over Black talent. The evidence hardly supports that claim. Based on ESPN's recent hiring trends, layoffs, promotions, and allocation of airtime, it would be difficult to argue that white talent receives preferential treatment.

Meanwhile, even a cursory glance at Le Batard's own media company, Meadowlark Media, reveals that if white privilege still exists anywhere in sports media in 2026, it apparently has