Robert Griffin III slammed by sports world after claiming Jackie Robinson breaking color barrier is 'not political' READ MORE: Ex-NFL star Robert Griffin III slammed for 'race-baiting By JAKE NISSE and MAX WINTERS Published: 15:58 GMT, 21 March 2025 | Updated: 15:59 GMT, 21 March 2025 Robert Griffin III earned the scorn of the sports world on Thursday night after a highly-controversial take about Jackie Robinson, in which he claimed the baseball icon breaking the sport's color barrier was 'in itself not political.' Griffin III had appeared to take a dig at his former network, ESPN, after one of the company's shows addressed the temporary removal of a Department of Defense webpage describing Robinson's military service. Specifically, Mina Kimes criticized the decision on Around the Horn, saying 'history cannot be erased.' The former NFL quarterback then said on X that sports TV shows 'should be about sports not politics,' before adding in a subsequent post how the achievements of Robinson, track star Jesse Owens and boxer Jack Johnson 'in itself' were not political. 'This tweet is not about Jackie Robinson,' he followed up his initial post. 'His significance can never and should never be erased. Breaking the color barrier in baseball in itself is not political. 'They all had political ramifications,' he continued of Robinson, Owens and Johnson's achievements. 'They all challenged the status quo of racial barriers to fair play, race relations and civil rights. 'That should always be acknowledged and never forgotten. They shouldn't be used as an excuse to push political agendas on sports shows on national television to an audience there to consume sports content.' Robert Griffin III insisted that Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier was 'in itself not political' Robinson became the first black player in MLB and opened the door for others to follow A Department of Defense page describing his military service was briefly removed this week Those comments have been viewed more than 4.5million times, and were criticized far and wide by sports fans and media. 'Breaking the color barrier was not political''...... HUH?!,' wrote Taylor Twellman. Former ESPN writer and personality Jemele Hill said, 'With all due respect, this doesn't make any sense. Breaking the color barrier in baseball it itself wasn't political? Segregation was LAW. Making it political. It feels like you're working way too hard to prove something here.' EJ Stewart, the executive producer of radio show Maggie and Perloff, shared photos of Owens at the 1936 Olympics, with Germans next to him performing the Nazi salute. 'Jesse Owens winning 4 Gold Medals in itself was not political,' he wrote, quoting Griffin. 'Nazi Germany in 1936 would say otherwise.' 'This is not smart,' added CNN commentator and former South Carolina House member Bakari Sellers. Others even resurfaced the 2012 comments of former ESPN personality Rob Parker, who called Griffin a 'cornball brother' and 'not one of us' when it comes to being black. Some fans suggested that Parker, who was widely criticized at the time for the comments, in fact deserved an apology. In his first week back in office, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders to restrict DEI initiatives in the US after branding them a form of 'discrimination'. DEI laws and measures had been under attack for years by Republicans who believe they threaten merit-based hiring, promotion and educational opportunities of white people, specifically white men. When the Robinson DoD page address was entered earlier on Wednesday, a message showed up saying it 'might have been moved, renamed, or may be temporarily unavailable.' The letters 'dei' were also automatically added to the URL. The webpage was later restored. The page on Robinson includes biographical information about his Army service during World War II, which occurred prior to his famously breaking baseball's color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. President Trump has issued a series of executive orders to restrict DEI initiatives in the US Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot said in a statement to ESPN: 'Everyone at the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson, as well as the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee airmen, the Marines at Iwo Jima and so many others - we salute them for their strong and in many cases heroic service to our country, full stop. Pete Hegseth forced into humiliating U-turn after Jackie Robinson gaffe 'We do not view or highlight them through the prism of immutable characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, or sex. We do so only by recognizing their patriotism and dedication to the warfighting mission like ever other American who has worn the uniform. 'DEI - Discriminatory Equity Ideology does the opposite. It Divides the force, Erodes unit cohesion and Interferes with the services' core warfighting mission. 'We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEl content from all platforms. 'In the rare cases that content is removed - either deliberately or by mistake - that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content so it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their fellow Americans, period.' 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