Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer hit out at ‘egos’ after he was forced to cancel a celebrity charity golf event at Trump National Doral due to backlash.
Poyer’s charity event was set to take place next month at former President Donald Trump ’s course in Florida. Several teams and sponsors suddenly pulled out of the event over its location and the political connotations that came with it.
On Saturday, Avalon Sports released a statement announcing the rescheduling of the event for next year. The agency revealed ‘negative comments’ derailed the event, which was to be held at one of Poyer’s favourite courses.
In a video posted to Instagram, Poyer said the ECMC Foundation was a ‘huge sponsor’ of the event and took part in it last year, only to pull out. He also claimed several golfers withdrew from the event, and the safety lamented people giving into pressures rather than ‘being a good human being’.
“They decided they didn’t want to take part in my tournament in which they took part in last year because of where it’s at, at Trump National Doral in South Florida,” Poyer said. “ECMC decided they can no longer take the pressure from up top, from the people above them, and it probably has nothing to do with ECMC at all.
“I’m really thankful and blessed to have worked with the people that I have worked with at ECMC in the past two years… I’m not naive. I understand where they are on the political spectrum, where New York is on the political spectrum.
“Do I agree with a lot of it? No, I don’t. I’m sorry, but I don’t… I say the quiet part out loud a lot and some of you don’t like that. My bad. I still went and put my ego aside and went to go help those who needed help or needed a laugh.”
Poyer called for unity, adding: “I believe in the universal law that the energy you put out is the energy you get back, and we’re not doing that right now. All we do is fight with each other all day. Fight with each other about politics, about religion, about race. The issues that come up are the issues we create… It blows my mind that we sit here in America today with these issues.”
Bills teammates Gabe Davis, Reid Ferguson and quarterback Josh Allen all expressed support for Poyer in the comments section of the video. Poyer’s event was set to benefit the EMC Foundation, who the 32-year-old described as a ‘sponsor’ - but the group insisted they were simply a beneficiary of the event. ECMC Foundation spokesperson Susan Gonzalez told Buffalo News: “ECMC Foundation was fortunate to be a beneficiary of Jordan Poyer’s golf tournament in Florida.
“Although the Foundation was not a sponsor, we have had an excellent partnership with Jordan, and we respect his decision to cancel his tournament; we hope he will consider supporting us in his future events.”
This is not the first time that Trump’s course has been deemed controversial; the PGA of America cut ties and moved the 2022 PGA Championship from his Bedminster course in New Jersey following the events at the U.S. Capitol in January 2021. Meanwhile, the R&A recently declared it wouldn’t host a British Open at Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland while he owns it.
Poyer - who has been with the Bills since 2017 - signed a two-year extension with the franchise this offseason. He was an All-Pro first team selection in 2021 and qualified for the Pro Bowl last season after notching 63 tackles and four interceptions.
