Should Seahawks’ Doug Baldwin Run for Public Office?

The midterm elections are over, now we can turn to future politics.

One of the most interesting things we learned election week is that Seattle Seahawks star receiver Doug Baldwin is interested in running for office. At a press conference, he said, according to Hawkswire on USA Today:

“If I do, it won’t be for at least another fifteen years. Personally, my main focus and main goal right now is to build my family and to be there for them as much as I possibly can so the future children – that are hopefully soon on the way – and being the best father that I can for them, so my priority is just like I attack anything else: researching, reading, learning as much as I can from people who have gone through the process and being the best husband and best father than I can be. If time comes and I have time to pursue other interests, then I will. I think that that time will also give me an opportunity to go back to school to learn things that I don’t have the expertise on and broaden my horizons in that way.”

Stunning that Baldwin thinks books and learning are essential training for a political career in this day and age. Clearly, he’s a revolutionary!

The Seahawks are known for having many outspoken players—former players Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett comes to mind. Baldwin thinks that legendary running back Marshawn Lynch would be a great person to take on education reform and, surprisingly, he thinks former tight end Luke Willson has a no-nonsense streak that would serve him well in politics. Still, I’m not sure we need more believers in conspiracy theories: Willson doubts the Moon landing ever took place.

Baldwin has been politically active and vocal both locally and nationally. He has attempted to bridge divides between law enforcement and people of color (Baldwin’s father is a cop). He has promoted for criminal justice reform and opposes cash bail. He was a big supporter of Washington state I-940 that just passed by a large margin (it got 60 percent of the vote) that would make the police more accountable in police-related killings and require more de-escalation training. Baldwin had testified in Olympia on the measure’s behalf.

If Baldwin did jump into politics at some point, he wouldn’t be the first popular Seahawks receiver to do so. The beloved Steve Largent ran for Congress after he left football and become a conservative Republican representative from his home state of Oklahoma. Seattle’s liberal fans were generally able to separate the player from his politics, at least until 1996 when Largent made a TV ad against a Washington state initiative (I-655) that sought to ban hunting of bears and cougars with bait and hounds. The ban passed, but people were shocked by Largent’s seeming endorsement of cruel hunting practices. How could such a nice guy support such a barbaric practice?

As we know, football is both a kind of refuge from politics for some spectators, but it is also a reflection of it. Players kneeling during the National Anthem is the least of it. The militarization of the ceremonies around football are political. Players vs. management union disputes are political. Racial politics is central—who plays, who coaches, who exploits. And the game itself is based on schemes, plays and deceptions. In this day and age, it seems like the NFL is a pretty good training ground for politics.

Personally, I think Doug Baldwin, a Stanford grad and a person who seems to have tremendous values, passion and commitment, would probably do very well in public service. I suspect he’d be on the more humane side of any bear baiting debate.

I say, go for it, Doug!