NFL Executive Troy Vincent 'Embarrassed' By America's Reputation Globally

I asked NFL Executive Vice President Troy Vincent for clarification Friday evening on whether he's embarrassed by America.

The genesis of the question is that Vincent this week joined a summit held by The Stimson Center, a nonprofit think tank in Washington D.C., to discuss how American athletes act as envoys of the United States, shaping the perceptions of foreign countries.

During the discussion, Vincent focused on the 2028 Olympic Games and the NFL's part in that, which is primarily supporting this country's flag football effort while at the same time trying to grow the game internationally.

Troy Vincent, EVP Football Operations, NFL during the Leaders "An Evening With..." event at Under the Bridge at Stamford Bridge on October 7, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images for Leaders)

Vincent: US Reputation Makes You Stay In Room

And when he spoke, Vincent expressed significant concerns about America's standing around the world.

"The Games are gonna be the Games," Vincent said. "But I think it's, you're really on a world stage now, so you got the biggest global stage and America's number one sports property converging together. 

"But we're also putting our brand, it's the American public, on how the world truly perceives us coming out of our current conditions. I mean every place that I go now, you know, you go, man, we got this reputation. I'm not a bully. 

"I'm on a plane, and once they find out you're such-and-such, there's these perceptions that we all say, as athletes, we are painted with the same brush. I'm a proud American. I have challenges just like you do. My family have challenges just like you do. 

"But we got this global reputation that just makes you – and I did it – stay in your hotel room. 'Cause you're embarrassed. You don't know what this is to people. Because that's my country. And this is how we're acting, and we're better than that. I know the people that's in this room, we're better than that. So it's, I think about that L.A piece and go, man, how are we going to show up? We got one chance. 'Cause it may not ever come back."

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Troy Vincent and General Manager John Lynch of the San Francisco 49ers during mandatory minicamp at the SAP Performance Facility on June 7, 2023.  (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)

Vincent Message Has Political Undertone

There is a lot to unpack here and none of it seems great for Vincent or for the NFL that he represents.

When he was speaking about not being a bully, does he think America has become a bully around the world? And does Vincent legitimately hide in his hotel room when he's abroad because he cannot explain or is embarrassed to explain who we are as a country?

Vincent, who I've known since 1992 when he was drafted by the Miami Dolphins, did not return my message seeking clarification. 

And lacking that, one can only assume the words are the words. He must believe that "how we're acting" is inexplicable or indefensible or, at the extreme, reprehensible.

This all, by the way, feels like it has a political undertone. Because Vincent was speaking in the present, which suggests he doesn't like the current direction of the country under the administration of President Donald Trump.

America 2026 Not On Its Knees

So what's his beef? 

We know what the beef is abroad. The rest of the world – China, Russia, the European Union, Iran, even Canada – prefers America to appease them. To serve them. And to shut up and send money.

That's not necessarily America in 2026.

Today's America has lost much of its manufacturing base appeasing and serving, and the current administration is trying to get it back. This America is not going to absorb exorbitant tariffs on its goods on the world market while buying foreign goods without equivalent tariffs.

This America has basically closed its borders to stop the flow of illegals that poured in the four previous years.

This America is investigating fraud by nationals from all over the Earth who come to this country, live in free public housing, get free food and other assistance despite being able to work, and then hit the streets to protest by waving their old country's flag and burning the American flag.

This America is standing up for women and girls in sports, in locker rooms and in bathrooms and refusing to entertain the psychological illness of the few to risk the safety and well-being of an entire weaker sex.

NEW YORK - Venezuelans celebrate, on Jan. 5, 2026, the ouster of deposed President Nicolas Maduro outside the Federal Courthouse in Lower Manhattan, where Maduro was arraigned. Photo: Seth Harrison-The Journal News/USA Today Network via Imagn Images

Venezuelans Not Embarrassed By America

Vincent played in South Florida for four seasons. He wouldn't recognize the region now compared to when he was there because hundreds of thousands of South Americans have immigrated, fleeing communism and other repression.

Those folks aren't embarrassed by the United States. They ran to the United States any way they could.

Perhaps the Venzuelans who celebrated the recent ouster of dictator Nicolás Maduro could teach Vincent what a real despot bully does to a country. The country that embarrasses Vincent has liberated Venezuelans, changed that country's course with one precise military operation, and curtailed the flow of drugs into our country – all while kicking Iran, Russia and China out of the region.

Maybe Vincent thinks ICE agents are bullies. Maybe he'd have trouble explaining how American law enforcement is carrying out its duty of expelling illegals to European frenemies who've been overrun by foreigners that turned churches into mosques, social media into forums with no debate, and their women into potential rape victims.

Yes, that could be a hard conversation. But it would be worth leaving a hotel room to have.

Former President Joe Biden attends the Welcome Ceremony during the 75th NATO Summit in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, on July 10, 2024.  (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Joe Biden's America Better?

And, finally, I'd love to ask Vincent if he liked things better the previous four years under President Joe Biden? Was the man "embarrassed" by America today proud of Biden's America?

The one with open borders?

And seven percent inflation in Dec. 2021?

And $5 per gallon gas in June 2022?

And $5 dozen eggs in January 2025?

And Saudi Arabia refusing to speak with us?

And Russia listening to Biden and Kamala Harris saying, "Don't," and then invading Ukraine?

And then also refusing to talk with Biden?

Maybe Vincent felt better about America when poor people were on their knees and nations abroad could manipulate us.

WASHINGTON D.C. - USA TODAY Women of the Year honoree Admiral Rachel Levine at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington on Feb. 16, 2022. Admiral Levine served as the assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services. Photo: Jarrad Henderson-USA TODAY

God Made Them Male And Female

Troy Vincent is a good man. I know he's a Christian. 

So did he forget the Bible says an inerrant God made us male and female and Jesus Christ repeated this in Mark 10:6? 

And if he knows his Scriptures, was he proud of the America of 2021 to 2024 when Rachel Levine, who was born male as Richard Levine, became the highest-ranking transgender ever in U.S. government history by becoming the assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health?

Was he happy to leave his hotel room to explain how proud he was about America then?