The Arizona Cardinals are under fire after forcing a longtime season ticket holder to discard her “Make America Great Again” hat before entering State Farm Stadium last weekend.
Susan Rosener, a 34-year season ticket owner, recounted to KPNX-TV that stadium security flagged her down on Sunday, insisting she couldn’t enter with her MAGA hat.
Rosener explained that security told her political apparel isn’t allowed inside the stadium. She questioned the security guard, asking why the hat was banned.
“She’s like, ‘no political hats or shirts.’ And I said I haven’t heard that at all. And I said that doesn’t make sense to me. And she goes, ‘I said, Take your hat off,’” Rosener recalled.
Arizona Cardinals security made a woman throw away her MAGA hat in order to get into the stadium on Sunday…
The Cardinals were quick to backtrack on this and apologize… because they know what an NFL boycott does for their business…
She shouldn’t have complied. pic.twitter.com/Xzkv5JgR2o
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) September 18, 2024
The security guard insisted that Rosener could enter only if she threw away the hat. Reluctantly, Rosener complied but later regretted her decision.
“In retrospect, I wish I would have stood my ground a little bit, but I wasn’t sure what the repercussions would be, and my husband would kill me if I did something with the season tickets or that jeopardizes them somehow,” she said about the moment.
“I am super freedom of speech,” Rosener noted. “I could care less if someone had a Kamala Harris hat or T-shirt on. I do feel like part of the problem was this security woman definitely had a bias with my hat.”
Susan Rosener (@RosenerSj58029), an Arizona Cardinals season ticket holder for 34 years was told that she could not attend the Cardinals home opener unless she threw her MAGA hat in the trash…
Since the incident, the @AZCardinals & S.A.F.E security have done nothing to rectify… pic.twitter.com/gz5t9UZZfF
— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) September 19, 2024
The team was blasted online for not allowing Rosener to support the political candidate of her choosing.
“This is absolutely crazy,” someone tweeted. “We don’t have freedom of speech anymore.”
“Boycott the Arizona Cardinals for making a woman throw her MAGA hat away,” another added.
“EVERY @AZCardinals fan who loves America should wear their MAGA hat to EVERY AZ Cardinals game this season,” Lake tweeted on Wednesday.
After Rosener took her story to the media, both the Arizona Cardinals and State Farm Stadium officials clarified that the security personnel misunderstood the policy regarding prohibited items.
EVERY @AZCardinals fan who loves America should wear their MAGA hat to EVERY AZ Cardinals game this season. And fans should call @12News at tell them we demand honest reporting going forward and to sideline liberal Mark Lewis until after the election. We demand the truth!… https://t.co/bcw7vsmute
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) September 18, 2024
“In an isolated incident at Sunday’s game, a stadium security member misunderstood a policy on prohibited items,” the statement began.
“Like most venues, signage, posters, flags, or displays that are….political in nature’ are not permitted. However, that did not apply in this instance. Moving forward we will work to provide clarity to all stadium personnel in these situations.”
“We have also reached out to the individual involved to communicate that their experience was not consistent with our policies and practices and to apologize for that,” the statement concluded.
BREAKING: #Chiefs KICKER HARRISON BUTKER has passed TE Travis Kelce as one of the #NFL’s most sold jerseys this year.
Historic jersey sales for a kicker.
Butker went viral after publicly talking about his Christian values.
(Via @NFLPA) pic.twitter.com/d1Mg7jbc5q
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 20, 2024
Meanwhile, Kansas City Chiefs star kicker Harrison Butker’s NFL merchandise sales outpaced teammate Travis Kelce’s for the first time, despite backlash over Butker’s controversial commencement speech.
According to the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), Butker not only debuted on their top 50 players list for official merchandise sales but also took the 11th spot, just ahead of Kelce, who came in 12th.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes led the pack among his teammates, securing second place behind Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud, who claimed the top spot, as noted by the NFLPA.
The merchandise sales data covered the period from March 1 to May 31, shortly after Butker stirred controversy with his speech at Benedictine College, a Catholic university in Kansas.
During the address, Butker praised his wife for being a “homemaker,” criticized President Joe Biden’s stance on abortion, and condemned LGBT “Pride month.”