Trump has become the talk of sports' locker rooms

Athletes feel unfairly tarnished by comments of presidential hopeful.

Posted Monday, October 17, 2016 by thestar.com

When Clint Irwin walked into the Toronto FC locker room Wednesday, the goalkeeper heard talk of fantasy football and a team meeting scheduled for that afternoon.

The chatter, Irwin said, was nothing like the crude comments toward women Donald Trump made in recently released recorded conversations from 2005.

The Republican nominee apologized for the remarks during his second presidential debate with Democratic counterpart Hillary Clinton Sunday night, calling it "locker room talk."

"It's ridiculous. I think every athlete who heard that was shocked because that's not what you hear on a daily basis," Irwin said of Trump's assertion that he was able to grab women by the genitals and get away with it because of his fame.

Irwin, an American, said it was almost offensive to athletes that Trump would paint them as people who use derogatory words and disrespect women.

He wasn't the only professional athlete to dismiss the notion that Trump's comments were similar to the conversations that take place in locker rooms.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James said Trump's version of locker room talk is "trash talk."

"What is locker room talk to me? It's not what that guy said. We don't disrespect women in no shape or fashion in our locker room. That never comes up," James, who has already publicly endorsed Clinton, told reporters in Cleveland.

James' teammate, Cavaliers reserve forward Dahntay Jones, was one of a number of athletes to speak out about Trump's comments on social media.

"Claiming Trump's comments are ‘locker room banter' is to suggest they are somehow acceptable. They aren't," Jones tweeted during the debate.

Philadelphia 76ers guard Kendall Marshall, Oakland A's pitcher Sean Doolittle, Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Robbie Rogers and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Chris Conley are just some of the athletes that dismissed Trump's claim on social media.

One sportsperson who was mum when it came to Trump's comments was New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady ― who was spotted with one of Trump's "Make America Great Again" hats in his locker and previously said he thought it "would be great" if Trump won the election ― didn't answer when asked at the end of his weekly news conference Wednesday about how he would respond if his kids heard Trump's version of "locker room talk."

Back in Toronto FC's dressing room, Irwin said he is not exactly sure if there are any Trump backers.

Irwin sent his absentee ballot to the state of Colorado last week. Despite a conservative upbringing, which included attending a Christian school where a portrait of George Bush hung on the wall, the goalkeeper cast his vote for Clinton. It was his first time voting for a Democrat.

The election, he said, is a hot topic in the locker room today. Thirteen of Toronto's players are American-born and Irwin said even the Canadian guys are keeping a wary eye on the race.

"Sometimes people think athletes are just kind of in their own bubble and don't really see what's going on in the rest of the world, but it affects us just as well."