Can Hillary Clinton Catch Up to Donald Trump in Athlete Endorsements?

This column is going to be about as a-political as a column about endorsements can be, but it’s become an awfully stark contrast over the weeks and months of the political cycle as sports figures have practically tripped over themselves to endorse Donald Trump. Clinton, while she’s received some endorsements, hasn’t seemed to get nearly as many and her’s haven’t generated the publicity that Trump’s have.

This is contrasted even more as the polls begin to show Trump down overall by as much as 15 points. Add on the fact that Clinton dominates cross sections of younger and minority voters, and it’s surprising that athletes haven’t come out as supportive of her campaign in such droves.

Before we begin rounding up the respective teams, it’s important to point out that celebrity endorsements can actually matter. An athlete who speaks at a rally can drum up more excitement. An athlete who shares a candidates message on social media blasts that right into the hearts and minds of millions of followers who are likely the exact type of people Clinton would like to energize and Trump would like to either win over to his side or have stay home.

Who’s Supporting Trump?

Right now, Trump has absolutely zero momentum in the polls and has recently been revealed to be down anywhere from nine to 15 points. Still, in the sports world, Trump still seems to have the upper hand…at least for now. It’s almost uncanny how many almost rushed to not only legitimize his campaign early on, but have also stuck with him through the ups and downs of the election process.

Tom Brady: Now, he’s walked back the endorsement big time, even going so far as to specifically say it wasn’t actually an endorsement, but Brady has called Trump a friend and said he “hoped” Trump would be elected, calling it “great.” Sounds like an endorsement to literally anyone with ears.

Terrell Owens: A former celebrity apprentice, Owens was one of Trump’s first celebrity endorsers.

Dennis Rodman: Without directly making the Trump-Kim Jong Un comparison, I’ll point out that Rodman has thrust himself into the politics stage before. Here, he calls Trump a longtime friend and pledges support.

Mike Tyson: Does Trump have Tyson’s support? “Hell yeah!”

Mike Ditka: Because, of course. The long-time vocal conservative has previously called President Barack Obama the “worst president” and has been similarly negative about Clinton. He’s called himself a Trump “fan,” but declined invites to speak at the Republican National Convention.

Rex Ryan: Going further than many on this list, Ryan introduced Trump at a rally and is one of many around the Buffalo Bills organization who have pledged their support.

Dana White: Maybe they just share information on how to silence journalists at their events, but White’s endorsement of Trump got three exclamation points on TMZ, where White dropped the info.

Curt Schilling: Another, duh, Schilling doesn’t just lean right politically, he’s falling off the mound in that direction. He wrote 1,500 words on why he’s supporting Trump.

Bill France: Along with a lot of other NASCAR drivers, France appeared at a rally and called Trump a winner.

Others: Jesse Ventura once threw his name into the ring as a potential running mate, but has since stated support for Gov. Gary Johnson. Ben Roethlisberger was rumored to be speaking at the RNC but laughed that off and stated that Trump was a friend but he isn’t endorsing anybody. Herschel Walker, John Daly, Johnny Damon, Bobby Knight, John Rocker and Richie Incognito have all voiced support.

Who’s Supporting Clinton?

First, in researching this column, I was surprised at how many athlete endorsements I did find for Clinton, initially assuming it would’ve been a smaller number. With a bunch of the names below, I specifically remembered seeing something once upon a time and now thinking, “Oh yeah, that’s right.” It speaks perhaps to a more normalization of athletes supporting Clinton over Trump, but it also speaks to her campaign’s lack of buzz compared to the reality star’s.

Mark Cuban: Probably the endorsement that was the biggest impetus to put this list together, the conservative billionaire has been vocal in his opposition to Trump, but has just recently come out in support of Clinton.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar: Spoke at the DNC, introducing himself as Michael Jordan because he claimed Trump couldn’t tell the difference.

Hank Aaron: A longtime and vocal social justice warrior, Aaron has supported both Bill and Hillary Clinton over the years, and has hosted a fundraiser as well as donated money himself.

Jason Collins: No one was surprised when Collins spoke at the DNC, as Collins has been a powerful advocate for LBGTQ issues since coming out on the pages of Sports Illustrated. Collins was a classmate of Chelsea Clinton and has been longtime friends with the family, even coming out to them before he did so publicly. He credits Hillary Clinton for helping him in that decision.

Magic Johnson: Not only has the former Lakers star donated to Clinton, he’s been added to an upcoming celebrity event in L.A.

Billie Jean King: Another powerful voice in the LBGTQ community, the former tennis star has also been one of the more vocal former athletes in Clinton’s corner.

Adam Silver and David Stern: Both the current and former NBA commissioners have given money to Clinton’s campaign. This follows suit with much of what I said about the league’s recent All-Star Game decision.

Abby Wambach: When the USWNT star retired, she immediately started campaigning for Clinton.

Michelle Kwan: Friends and longtime coworkers with Clinton, the former figure-skating star has joined Clinton’s campaign full time.

Others: Jim Brown, Alex Rodriguez, Jeffrey Kessler, Tony Rodriguez, Jason Kidd, Grant Hill, Hope Solo, Cato June and Jeff Lurie have all either voiced support or donated to Clinton’s campaign. Oh, and I’d be awfully remiss if I didn’t mention fellow “The Outside Game” columnist Jonas Gray.

And…Moving Forward?

Right now, Trump has the numbers and he has the buzz from the sports world. Perhaps it’s just a class of athlete that has felt quieted by the political process in the pass—something Trump’s campaign has going for it in droves—but Clinton has less rank-and-file athletes lining up behind her. Trump is getting more publicity from this realm at a time when less and less athletes are heeding the admonition to “Stick to Sports.”

Expect that to change.

Clinton has simply run a quieter campaign to this point, and that is going to pivot heading into the fall. She has more money to spend, and while her rallies don’t pick up the same television coverage as Trump’s, that won’t be the case as Obama, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and others begin to campaign full time. At each one of those stops, celebrities and athletes will be asked to become part of the undercard, and they will start to come out en masse…especially if President Obama is involved.

Between Kareem speaking at the DNC, Cuban and darn near the entire Milwaukee Bucks organization endorsing Clinton, and the commissioners donating, the NBA can be expected to lead the way here. ESPN’s “The Undefeated” has lead the way in covering athletes like Carmelo Anthony deciding not to stay silent any more, and one could easily expect more first person columns there and at “The Player’s Tribune” supporting Clinton as the election gets closer.