Pro Football Hall of Famers Ed Reed and Ray Lewis blasted Donald Trump’s White House on Sunday for featuring them in a video cheering the administration’s war on Iran.
The White House shared a video on social media last week that used two clips of the former Baltimore Ravens greats from their playing days.
One clip shows Lewis make a key block as his Baltimore teammate Chris McAlister takes a missed field goal for a 107-yard touchdown return in a 2002 “Monday Night Football” game. Another clamp shows Reed making a huge hit on Indianapolis Colts cornerback Waine Bacon in 2004.
The White House video combines these NFL highlights with recently shared clips from U.S. Central Command showing missiles being fired at Iran, where Iranian health officials say more than 1,200 people have been killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes since late last month.
The video, captioned “Touchdown” and set to the AC/DC hit “Thunderstruck,” features additional bombing footage sandwiched between highlights of several other NFL and college football players delivering big hits.
A representative for Lewis confirmed to HuffPost that the White House had not contacted him or his team about the video.
“This is something we disagree with and would like to see Ray removed,” the NFL star’s rep wrote in an email.
Steve Limentani/ISI photos via Getty Images
In response to journalist Ben Jacobs flagging the video to him on X, Reed said just wrote“I do not approve of this message.”
It is unclear whether other images in the White House video show actual attacks on Iran.
Last month, the White House used ridiculously footage of the sinking of a decommissioned US Navy frigate in 2022 in a hype video with the caption “Lethality 🔥🦅.”
HuffPost has contacted the White House for comment.
Jeff Schear via Getty Images
In 2017, Reed Trump went after the president questioned why the NFL got ‘huge tax breaks’ while players ‘disrespected’ the US by kneeling during the national anthem to protest racism and police brutality.
“Dear Mr. President, you are right about everything except the players who are protesting the injustices this country has done to its people since the 17th century,” Reed wrote on Twitter, which is now X.
A few days earlier, Reed had done the same blasted Trump on his various controversies in another Twitter post.
“Our president said he was going to get some again? Did he apologize? Dude throwing paper towels, did he apologize?” wrote the NFL great.
The White House has been criticized for releasing wild clips featuring celebrities like Sabrina Carpenter, Ben Stiller, Kesha and others without their consent.
In addition to the football world, the White House social media account also used several clips of old MLB stars for war promotion last week in a edited video with huge home runs alongside strikes and explosions.
