Two members of the Republican Party that are getting a ton of coverage right now are Herschel Walker and Tommy Tuberville. The two have a lot in common. One is currently a U.S. Senator and the other is trying to become one. They both have very dubious opinions on Black Americans. And they are both associated with SEC college football, with Tuberville making his name as a coach for Ole Miss and Auburn and Walker making his name as a player for Georgia.
Is there a correlation between any of that? National opinion columnist Will Bunch seems to think so.
With Herschel Walker and Tommy Tuberville, there's a great essay or even a book to be written (by someone smarter than me) about how the warped cultures of SEC football and the Republican Party have become interchangeable
— Will Bunch (@Will_Bunch) October 10, 2022
A lot of college football fans, especially those related to the SEC, took Bunch to task over the oversimplification. Some noted that a bevy of terrible characters to come out of college football all played or coached elsewhere. While others noted that there was some bias implicit in this oversimplification of The South and the people who live there. And some called out that the insinuation was more insulting to SEC’s football culture than anything.
https://twitter.com/38Godfrey/status/1579479605995769856
Meanwhile, Nick Saban is good buddies with Joe Manchin and they grew up together in West Virginia. https://t.co/FF7OvqyAru
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) October 10, 2022
Why stop there? It's every conference. It's college football in general. It's a microcosm of everything wrong in this country. Penn State ain't SEC. Baylor ain't SEC. SDSU ain't SEC. https://t.co/V6kiCcKuKG
— Matt Johnson matthewjohnson.bsky.social (@twoeightnine) October 10, 2022
https://twitter.com/thejasonkirk/status/1579468197757321216
Though to be fair not everyone disagreed with the assessment.
https://twitter.com/AntheaButler/status/1579453543236636673
