Fans Rip Washington's Taylor Heinicke After Learning He Supports President Trump

Taylor Heinicke did a nice job filling in for starting quarterback Alex Smith, but the Washington Football Team lost to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the playoffs, anyway. All the while Heinicke made headlines by getting ripped -- not for his play, but for (what else?) his political beliefs.

Namely, Heinicke was a known supporter of President Donald Trump. Of course, so are a lot of professional athletes, but the social media mob decided to make Heinicke its entire football focus on Saturday.

Clearly, this is a testy time politically in this country, with the divide and anger between parties and those who support both sides perhaps as large as its ever been. Sometimes, pro athletes are going to feel the heat as a result -- regardless of their play on the field. Heinicke likely wasn't focused on anything but the game and isn't likely to respond nor try to explain himself for his politicial choices (nor should he).

But that won't keep the Twitter rage and often unfounded accusations from flying.

Heinicke finished 26-of-44 passing for 306 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.

Written by
Sam Amico spent 15 years covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports and NBA.com, along with a few other spots, and currently runs his own basketball website on the side, FortyEightMinutes.com.