The Department of Homeland Security used highlights of Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins’ iconic pregame walkout in a social media post referring to an alleged caravan of immigrants approaching the US border.
The video montage, which shows the former NFL star chanting “The time has come” to himself before showing highlights of his big hits on the field, was posted on X on Sunday, accompanied by the caption “Our time has come.”
Dawkins is a nine-time Pro Bowl and five-time All-Pro safety, best known for his time with the Philadelphia Eagles. He is known by his public alter ego “Weapon X,” named after the Marvel Comics character Wolverine. His walkouts became the stuff of legend for their drama and intensity, and that intensity carried over to the field, where the hard-hitting safety played 13 of his 16 NFL seasons (1996-2011) with the Eagles.
Major sports leagues routinely tell the public that express written permission is required to use their footage.
The NFL did not immediately respond Sunday night to questions about whether they were notified in advance of the posts or given permission to use the footage. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Eagles also did not respond Sunday night, and efforts to reach Dawkins were unsuccessful.
This is not the first time official government accounts have used major American sports highlight videos on X. On March 6, the Trump administration posted a cut-up of military explosions mixed with NFL and MLB highlights in two posts on the official White House account. One is dedicated to football and the other to baseball.
These posts come just days after outright war between the United States and Iran began on Feb. 28.
In the baseball reel, captioned “Pure American Dominance,” videos of explosions at unspecified locations were shown between clips of Hall of Fame sluggers like Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. that takes home-run swings.
Similarly, in the NFL video captioned “Touchdown,” big hits from players like Ed Reed and Ray Lewis are shown and cut off by military explosions at moments of collisions.
MLB and the NFL did not comment at the time on whether the leagues had received advance notice of the posts, or whether they had given the White House permission to use their highlights.
Companies like Pokémon have spoken out against the government using their intellectual property without permission in social media posts. The administration once posted a meme of several characters from the franchise, including its most popular Pikachu. The company released a statement shortly after it was condemned.
“We are aware of recent social content that includes images associated with our brand,” said Sravanthi Dev, a company spokeswoman, in a statement obtained by The New York Times. “We were not involved in its creation or distribution, and no permission was given for the use of our intellectual property. Our mission is to bring the world together, and that mission is not affiliated with any political viewpoint or agenda.”
Dawkins racked up 723 solo tackles with the Eagles, which ranks fifth in franchise history. He shares the franchise interception record (34) with Eric Allen and Bill Bradley.
He spent the last three seasons of his career with the Denver Broncos.
Dawkins finished his career with 1,147 combined tackles, 59 interceptions, 153 pass deflections, and 36 forced fumbles. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.