Locker Room Talk: A Pro’s Take

by | Oct 12, 2016 | Uncategorized |

Never one to shy away from controversy, Donald Trump’s name has been ubiquitous in headlines since he first announced his presidential candidacy in June 2015. Trump’s flamboyant personality was thrust into the spotlight once again this past Friday when The Washington Post released a video from 2005 of Trump speaking with Billy Bush, then host of “Access Hollywood,” that was riddled with grotesque language and comments about making unwanted advances towards women. Trump later dismissed the comments as mere “locker room talk,” with which many professional athletes have taken issue.

At the forefront of this conversation was Atlanta Falcons tight end Jacob Tamme, who joined me on this week’s podcast to talk Trump controversy and give his take as a professional athlete.

Tamme, who is now in his ninth year in the National Football League, says that he has always had an interest in politics and follows them closely. He and his teammates watched the second presidential debate between candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on their flight back to Atlanta on Sunday night after defeating the Denver Broncos 23-16.

“I was just wishing that Donald Trump would just apologize, apologize unequivocally,” Tamme said.

Well Trump did apologize, but not before quickly chalking up his comments to “locker room talk” and implying that this sort of banter is something that many, if not all, men engage in.

“The fact that he said locker room talk was not really my main issue. I don’t care what type of ‘talk’ you call it. You can refer to it however you want, but as he apologized he also tried to dismiss it as something that all men do,” Tamme said, also adding that you can’t simultaneously apologize and dismiss.

The Falcons tight end is a self-described conservative who has yet to vote for a democratic candidate in any election, but doesn’t support either candidate this year, clarifying that his stance is not a partisan one.

Tamme admits that locker rooms aren’t perfect and that there are times when vulgar language is used. His fear is that Trump’s linking of the locker room to the controversial video will normalize these sorts of comments.

“I don’t think that women are objects and when we try to normalize [his comments] by saying things like ‘locker room talk,’ I don’t think it’s healthy,” Tamme said. “I think it’s dangerous to say locker room talk over and over and over because we cannot allow young men and young women in this country to think that it is ok to talk like that. That’s what bothered me the most.”

Tamme predicts that this campaign cycle will continue in a downward spiral until Election Day finally puts all of the craziness to an end. For our full conversation about Trump, as well as Tamme’s thoughts on locker room culture, Colin Kaepernick’s silent protests and more, check out the full “Business of Sports” podcast.