PITTSBURGH — Politicians were out in force at the rally held at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works in West Mifflin on Friday to celebrate a deal uniting the Pittsburgh steelmaker and Tokyo-based Nippon Steel. And the stands were packed with cheering, orange-uniformed steelworkers.

Then the three NFL football players came on stage.

Long-retired Steeler Rocky Bleier handed President Donald Trump a black-and-gold jersey with the name Trump emblazoned on it, while Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and safety Miles Killebrew looked on.

Mixing sports and politics isn’t new, but neither is the fact that there’s always a risk of getting fans riled up. More than a few social media users had opinions about Friday’s appearances — with some saying the team is now destined to win the Super Bowl, while others vowed to cancel their subscriptions to watch Steelers games.

“Between Rudolph being at the Trump event and the idea of our other QB being Aaron Rodgers I might legit be a chargers fan this coming season,” wrote Sad Sixers Fan on social media site X.

“Trump tried to overthrow the US government. This is a fact. You, Mason Rudolph, are being judged by the slime with which you keep company,” wrote DadoAlex, another Steelers fan, on X.

Some fans defended the players, including Kevin Adams, who posted: “We done crying about Steelers players at the Trump event or we still doing that today? Lol. Like honestly do you realize how dumb you look? The fact the team even had to issue a statement about it is sad.”

The team addressed the appearances of the two active players at Trump's rally in a letter sent to season-ticket holders, which said alumni and current players “make their own individual decisions” and do not represent the views of the organization.

Neither the NFL nor the Steelers is new to politics. The National Football League spent more than a few years dealing with its response to former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to take a knee during the national anthem to protest racial injustice.

Steelers owner Dan Rooney, a lifelong Republican, endorsed candidate Barack Obama for the presidency and later accepted an appointment as ambassador to Ireland from the Democrat.

In the case of Friday’s rally — in celebration of a massive steel industry deal that had the backing of Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, as well as state Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, a Republican, even as it split the local and national steelworkers unions — it wasn’t entirely clear what brought that particular mix of NFL players to the stage.

Bleier got their part of the program started.

“Mr. President, on behalf of U.S. Steel and to the people of Pittsburgh. More importantly, though, to all the Steelers fans that are here this evening, I have the honor of making you an honorary Pittsburgh Steeler, and would like to present to you your jersey, as ... with the number 47 as the 47th President of the United States, a number that hangs in the National Football League Hall of Fame. I'd like to present to this to a Hall of Fame President,” said Bleier, according to a transcript of the event.

Rudolph didn’t say much on stage, beyond expressing his admiration for Bleier. “Awesome to be here, a part of this big investment in Pittsburgh. Go Steelers,” he said.

An enthusiastic Killebrew then stepped up to the microphone. “How about this president of ours, huh? Just wanted to say God bless you, President Trump, and God bless you, Pittsburgh. Thank you,” he said cheerfully.

Killebrew would later post on social media: “Excited for the Billions of dollars coming for the production of US Steel right here in Pennsylvania! ... Hard working Steel workers make me proud to be called a Steeler.”

Rudolph said Tuesday that he was invited to the rally by a lifelong friend who works in Washington, D.C. The Steelers quarterback had never been to a steel mill and said it was incredible to meet steelworkers and a sitting U.S. president.

When asked about the backlash, he said that stuff exists online every day.

“That’s the nature of social media,” Rudolph said. “That’s the nature of why America is so great. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Speech is free. Par for the course.”

Killebrew said he was invited by Rudolph and agreed it was a great chance to meet a sitting president and hear about a partnership that would help the industry for which his team is named. He added that when he was growing up, he and friends either wanted to be president or to meet one.

“Yesterday, I got the chance to meet the sitting U.S. president. I’m not apologetic about that,” he said. “I’ll be able to sit down with my kids when they’re learning about the president and say, ‘Hey, dad met that guy.’ For anybody who thinks that’s a bad thing, to be honest, I couldn’t care less.”

Mike Butler, a Democratic political strategist based in Pittsburgh, said professional athletes all make decisions on how private or public they want their political views to be.

There are differences, depending on where that activity occurs. When Kaepernick took a knee in 2016 during the anthem before the start of football games, that created a public relations situation for players that was much different than the one for Rudolph and Killebrew attending political rallies during their free time.

Professional teams like the Steelers might give PR advice to players, but won’t prevent them from attending rallies, Butler said.

“I’d be surprised if they actively told a player not to show up at a political event or endorse a candidate,” Butler said. “That would probably go a little too far restricting their own personal, political freedoms.”

Michael Serazio, a professor at Boston College’s Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences whose research focuses on the intersection of sports, culture, media and politics, said that presidents using sports to promote themselves as an “common man” is not a new idea.

Trump has been directly involved in NFL affairs before. He tried to buy the Buffalo Bills and was team owner of the New Jersey Generals in the former United States Football League in the 1980s, when he led efforts to try to merge the NFL and USFL.

As a controversial figure, Trump himself has made it more difficult for sports teams and athletes to associate themselves with politics, Serazio said. But there is a wider trend at play here, he added — most sports fans, according to some of his research, don’t want to associate sports with any type of politics.

“There's a real backlash against athletes being political, or athletes or sports leagues getting involved in political issues,” Serazio said. “By and large, fans really want sports to be escapist. They want sports to be insulated from anything that might be construed as political or controversial in some way.”

Player appearances at political rallies don’t often involve teams taking action, said Larry Silverman, a Pittsburgh attorney who worked for the Pittsburgh Pirates for roughly a decade.

“In my experience, I wouldn't have even been consulted on this because it doesn’t get to that level,” he said.

Silverman said his focus with the baseball team was more on contract and sports entertainment law. He used to teach a course at Duquesne University on those subjects.

Professional sports teams do often use standard language in contracts, known as “morals clauses” or “good citizenship clauses,” Silverman said. A lot of that language is finalized between players unions and the leagues themselves, he said.

Each case is different, depending on who the player is and what precautions a team might want to take, Silverman said. Those clauses only come into play when something much more serious than attending a political rally occurs — like someone committing a criminal offense.

What’s in the basic NFL’s morals clause?

It’s relatively straightforward:

“Club employs Player as a skilled football player. Player accepts such employment. He agrees to give his best efforts and loyalty to the Club, and to conduct himself on and off the field with appropriate recognition of the fact that the success of professional football depends largely on public respect for and approval of those associated with the game.”

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