Agency used video of Hall of Fame player Brian Dawkins to show readiness for border protection.
Published On 28 Sep 2026
The National Football League (NFL) has asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop using a video of a retired star player on social media, after the agency used highlights of his career to show its readiness to protect the United States border against a purported caravan of immigrants that was heading towards it.
“The league has requested the DHS take down the video,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said on Monday.
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The video, posted on Sunday, shows Brian Dawkins, a former player for the Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos, walking out before a game and chanting “the time has come”. It then features a montage of him tackling opposing players on the field, set to heavy metal music. The DHS post includes the caption: “Our time has come.”
Dawkins was a highly celebrated NFL player who retired in 2011 after playing 16 seasons in the NFL.
US President Donald Trump has made immigration a central part of his second term in office, terming the inflow of migrants across the border from Mexico an “invasion” and deploying federal forces in cities across the country to round up undocumented people.
During his first term, Trump deployed thousands of troops along the border with Mexico to stop a caravan of Central American migrants who had been making their way north. Critics called the deployment a vast overreaction and dismissed it as a political stunt ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
