Putri Anggraini
The National Football League has formally asked the Department of Homeland Security to remove a social media video that uses footage of retired star safety Brian Dawkins to promote the agency's border enforcement posture, according to a league spokesman.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed on Monday that the league had submitted the request, saying simply, "The league has requested the DHS take down the video."
The video in question was published on Sunday and opens with Dawkins, a former Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos standout, striding onto the field before a game while chanting the phrase "the time has come." It then cuts to a montage of the hard-hitting safety leveling opposing players, with heavy metal music underscoring the action. The DHS post carried a caption that echoed Dawkins's opening line: "Our time has come."
The clip appears designed to project strength and readiness, borrowing the iconography of professional football to frame the agency's mission of securing the southern border. That framing is what drew the league's objection, though the NFL has not elaborated publicly on its specific grounds for requesting the takedown.
Dawkins retired in 2011 following a 16-season career that established him as one of the most celebrated defensive players of his era. A fixture in the Eagles' secondary for 13 seasons before finishing his career with three years in Denver, he earned a reputation as a ferocious tackler and emotional leader, and his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame cemented his legacy in the sport.
The league's move to distance itself from the DHS post reflects the sensitivity that can arise when government agencies co-opt sports imagery for political messaging. Professional sports leagues have generally sought to avoid being drawn into partisan disputes, wary of alienating segments of their fan bases, sponsors and players. When official accounts repurpose game footage without authorization, leagues often respond with takedown requests to protect their intellectual property and control how their product is presented.
The video landed amid a broader intensification of immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump, who has placed the issue at the center of his second term. Trump has characterized the movement of migrants across the border from Mexico as an "invasion," a rhetorical framing that has underpinned his administration's approach, and he has deployed federal forces in cities across the country to round up undocumented people.
That posture echoes the approach of Trump's first term, when his administration sent thousands of troops to the Mexican border to halt a caravan of Central American migrants traveling north. Critics at the time dismissed the deployment as a vast overreaction and derided it as a political stunt timed to the 2018 midterm elections.
In the current case, DHS appears to have seized on a purported caravan heading toward the border as the backdrop for its social media messaging, using Dawkins's highlight reel to lend the operation a sense of urgency and athletic vigor. The caption "Our time has come" amplifies that message, suggesting a moment of decisive action.
The choice of Dawkins as a symbol carries particular resonance. He spent the bulk of his career in Philadelphia, a city with a large and famously devoted sports following, and his on-field persona — intense, fearless, unrelenting — maps neatly onto the kind of imagery law enforcement and military agencies often favor in recruitment and public messaging.
But the use of an active cultural figure's likeness without permission can create legal and public relations complications. Publicity rights, trademark concerns and the potential for implied endorsement are all considerations that typically drive leagues and athletes to push back when their material is repurposed by government entities.
The NFL's request also raises questions about how federal agencies curate their social media presence. DHS has increasingly used polished, meme-adjacent content to communicate its enforcement priorities, a style that can blur the line between official communication and partisan promotion. When such content draws on sports footage, the resulting friction with leagues is almost inevitable.
It remains unclear whether DHS has complied with the league's request or whether the video remains accessible. Neither the agency nor the NFL has offered further detail beyond McCarthy's brief confirmation.
For Dawkins, who built a Hall of Fame career as one of the game's most feared defenders, the episode is an unusual collision of sport and statecraft. The safety's signature pregame chant and bone-rattling tackles made him a beloved figure in two NFL cities, and his image now sits at the center of a dispute over how the government communicates one of the most polarizing issues in American politics.
The standoff also underscores the broader scrutiny facing the administration's immigration crackdown, which has drawn legal challenges on multiple fronts, including efforts by Texas landowners to halt border wall construction and court rulings blocking plans to deport migrants to third countries. Each new enforcement gesture, including promotional videos, now arrives in a contested environment where symbolism carries real political weight.
For the NFL, the episode is a reminder that its brand can be drawn into debates it did not seek. The league's swift request to DHS suggests it wants no part of being a visual prop in the immigration fight — an instinct consistent with its long-standing preference for staying on the sidelines of partisan controversy.
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