Fans Tear Into Garth Brooks for Endorsing Sanders … Football Player Barry Sanders

By Chris Willman

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Garth Brooks has encountered the danger of endorsing Sanders in 2020. Any Sanders.

The country superstar often wears local sports jerseys when he plays stadiums, and in Detroit, he wore a shirt bearing the last name and number of legendary Lions football player Barry Sanders, who, as one of the greatest running backs of all time, is not generally considered one of the nation’s more polarizing figures.

Brooks was honoring Sanders at a concert for 70,000 fans at Ford Field, honoring him not just as a local hero but as a fellow Oklahoma State University alum.

Some fans and observers went apoplectic. Among the responses, on Twitter and Instagram:

“Good grief. Can’t you just do what you get paid to do???? Why why why does it have to involve politics!!! So sad. We don’t pay good money for anything other than to watch you perform. Thought you were different.”

“I had no idea you were a big freaking liberal socialist! I’ve listened to your songs for the last time!”

“Weird. That a millionaire would like a socialist. Hey Garth are you going to distribute your millions?”

“If this is for Bernie Sanders, I’m done with you. I thought you were a true American that loves Our Country?”

“YUUURRRR DONNNEEE BUDDY.”

“I wish you would’ve kept your political preferences to yourself. Peace out.”

“I will never spend a cent on anything that has to do with you. I will turn the station on one of your songs come on.”

“The fact that there are actually people who dont know he is wearing a Barry Sanders jersey in Detroit is amazing to me.”

“ was great when he was with The Detroit Lions. He carried my fantasy team for years.”

“It has to hurt a little on the inside to find out that some your fan base doesn’t do smart very well.”

Fortunately for anyone going slowly crazy over these comments — and the even greater amount of corrections — there were also some responses that went even more bizarrely off-topic. Like:

“Can we talk about how psychopath it is to tuck a football jersey into you’re pants is????”

We can only hope that Brooks makes it to a stadium gig in Seattle this year and makes sure to wear a jersey commemorating former Seahawks running back Chris Warren.