Tuesday was quite a night for a bipartisan football game.
Just hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced an impeachment probe of President Donald Trump, lawmakers from both parties came together to play on the same team in the 10th annual Congressional Football Game at Gallaudet University in Northeast D.C.
The game’s “annual” moniker is more of an aspiration than a reality at this point. Started in 2004, it has been a biennial affair recently, with the last game coming in 2017. As with other congressional sporting events, the game supports local nonprofits, specifically the Capitol Police Memorial Fund, Our Military Kids and A Advantage 4 Kids.
The event is intended to promote cooperation between Democratic and Republican lawmakers, but all talk beforehand was on the elephant in the room.
“The last thing we want to do is just stand up and say ‘impeach’ and sit back down,” said Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., a former prosecutor and co-captain for the game.
“We want to take our time, we want to make sure we get the evidence, we have the investigation, and then we can make that decision upon which to go forward and impeach a sitting president for threatening our national security,” he said.
For his part, fellow captain Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., said Democrats “were dead set on (impeachment), regardless of what happens here in Washington, regardless of the successful economy and the great things that we’re doing out here working together.”
“It actually will end bipartisanship that happens in Washington a lot more than folks see,” he said.
It’s hard to imagine what Davis, who didn’t expound further, meant by that, considering the complete gridlock party leaders have already vocally admitted to perpetrating, but it didn’t keep the members from combining their efforts on the field.
Though a host of retired NFL players joined the lawmakers’ side, there was one newcomer to the game who impacted it the most, in more ways than one.
Former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez, who is now a freshman GOP representative from Ohio, checked both boxes for the “Mean Machine” squad. He also caught the game’s first touchdown reception, helping his side to a 14-4 victory.
(For the football fans wondering about the final score, it was actually even more bizarre than it appears: The 14 points came from two touchdowns, two failed conversions and a safety, meaning there were more safeties (3) than touchdowns (2) in the contest.)
Though Gonzalez said he is happily retired from football, he found himself regretting not having attended any of the team practices as he had for the Congressional Baseball Game.
“For baseball, we had more practices than I did for NFL preseason,” he said. “Like any NFL training camp I ever participated in, we practiced more for the baseball game than the NFL season.”
Gonzalez is still adjusting to life in Congress, though he said he felt like he had more authority over the results in the NFL.
“The NFL is great because you feel like you can control more of the outcome, because it’s you and your team. If you prepare well, and you do all the right work, and you work together, and you play hard, and you don’t make any mistakes, you’re probably going to win,” he said. “Congress isn’t like that at all. Congress is more, if you’re in the majority and you have the votes, this, that and the other, that’s ultimately going to win the day on the House floor.”
Despite shaking off some rust, Gonzalez’s two-yard touchdown catch gave his side a lead it would never relinquish.
Former NFL wide receiver and current Ohio Congressman Anthony Gonzalez scores the first TD of the game on this 2-yard reception (60-yard field, end zones start at the 20s) pic.twitter.com/bgBj9rTf3Y
— Noah Frank (@NoahFrankWTOP) September 24, 2019
Seven years after leaving the NFL, Gonzalez said his current role is the best job he’s had. “It’s the honor of a lifetime,” he said. “Despite its frustrations, this is my favorite job I’ve ever had. It’s harder, but I like that. That’s OK.”
But that was as political as Gonzalez wanted to get Tuesday night. Asked about the broader moment, he stuck to football.
“No,” he said, heading back to the sideline for the second half. “Not today.”
