Garth Brooks has a history of wearing football jerseys at his concerts. For a show last weekend at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, the country star donned a Barry Sanders jersey.
A Hall of Fame running back, Sanders played 10 seasons with the NFL’s Detroit Lions from 1989-1998 — during which he earned 10 consecutive Pro Bowl invites, six first-team All-Pro selections and four second-team All-Pro selections.
As it turns out, lots of Brooks’ Instagram followers didn’t know that.
After Brooks posted a photo of himself wearing the jersey, with a caption thanking Detroit, commenters began accusing Brooks of supporting Bernie Sanders, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Among the cascade of confused comments:
“Love you, hate the shirt. Trump2020”
“What are saying? Your (sic) a Communist or a Socialist. Either way your (sic) a loser. ❄️ Just threw out your cd 💿”
“Sanders? Really? So out of touch!”
Some commenters chimed in to clarify. Others summoned fake rage, acting like Brooks was promoting KFC founder Colonel Harland David Sanders.
“How much did KFC pay you to wear this?” one commenter joked. “Keep fast food out of your music.”
Barry Sanders responded to Brooks via Twitter, saying “Hey @garthbrooks, want to be my VP?”
Brooks kept the convo going, responding with “Hey @BarrySanders, I would run any race with you!”