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The National Football League has formally objected to a social media post published by the Department of Homeland Security that used footage of retired star safety Brian Dawkins to promote the agency's border enforcement efforts, according to a league spokesperson.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed on Monday that the league had asked the department to take the video down. The request followed the post's appearance a day earlier, when DHS published the clip on its official channels as part of messaging about its readiness to confront a group of migrants reportedly traveling toward the United States border.
The video opens with Dawkins, a former Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos player, emerging from the tunnel before a game and delivering his signature chant, "the time has come." It then cuts to a montage of hard hits and tackles set to heavy metal music, with the department captioning the post with the same phrase: "Our time has come."
Dawkins retired in 2011 after a 16-season career in the NFL and is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished defensive players of his era. His on-field persona — intense, theatrical, and closely tied to the pregame ritual featured in the video — appears to be what drew the department's attention as it sought imagery evoking strength and resolve.
The league's intervention marks a rare instance of a major sports organization publicly pressing a federal agency over the unauthorized use of its intellectual property in a politically charged context. Professional sports leagues have historically guarded their broadcast footage and team marks closely, licensing them for commercial purposes and generally resisting associations that could alienate portions of their fan base.
The department's post was framed around an apparent caravan of immigrants moving northward, a recurring motif in recent US immigration politics. President Donald Trump has placed immigration at the center of his second term, describing the movement of migrants across the southern border as an "invasion" and deploying federal personnel to cities around the country to detain undocumented people.
That approach echoes his first term, when his administration dispatched thousands of troops to the Mexico border to intercept a caravan of Central American migrants. Critics at the time characterized the deployment as a disproportionate response and dismissed it as a political gesture timed to the 2018 midterm elections.
The use of a celebrated football figure in enforcement messaging raises questions about how federal agencies communicate with the public and whether such imagery risks politicizing athletes who have no role in border policy. Sports figures have occasionally been drawn into partisan messaging, often without their consent, prompting disputes over image rights and public perception.
It remains unclear whether the department has complied with the league's request or commented publicly on the matter. As of the league's statement, no response from DHS had been reported, leaving open the possibility that the video remains accessible on the agency's platforms.
From a legal standpoint, the dispute touches on rights of publicity and copyright. Broadcast footage of NFL games is typically controlled by the league and its media partners, and players' likenesses are governed by collective bargaining agreements and individual marketing arrangements. Agencies seeking to use such material generally need permission, though enforcement practices vary.
The episode also illustrates the speed with which political messaging now travels online, where official accounts frequently repurpose pop culture clips to amplify policy positions. When those clips involve recognizable public figures, the resulting attention can cut both ways — heightening a message's reach while inviting objections from the people and institutions depicted.
For Dawkins, the video's circulation places him in an uncomfortable position he did not seek. A Hall of Fame inductee and a beloved figure in Philadelphia sports history, he built his reputation on ferocity in competition rather than political commentary, and the league's request suggests an effort to keep that legacy separate from a contentious policy debate.
The broader implication is that sports and immigration politics may increasingly collide as agencies experiment with viral formats to sell their agendas. Each such collision risks turning athletes into unwilling symbols, and each response from leagues tests how much control they can assert over images that have already been shared widely online.
For now, the league's demand stands as a straightforward assertion of control over its content. Whether it changes the department's behavior — or simply becomes another footnote in the long-running argument over immigration messaging — depends on how the agency responds in the coming days.
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