NFL demands DHS remove promo featuring ex-Eagles star Brian Dawkins

The NFL requested that the Department of Homeland Security remove a video it posted on Sunday of former Philadelphia Eagles safety Brian Dawkins from its social media.The DHS video montage features several of Dawkins’s tackles and a walk-up clip in which he says, “My time has come.” The department posted the video in response to a breaking news report from X account Leading Report that read, “JUST IN: Huge migrant caravan headed towards the US southern border.”“The league has requested DHS take down the video,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the Athletic. Dawkins also responded to the video himself, saying he did not permit “anybody” to use his name, image, or likeness.“Hello, blessed people. All right, let’s be clear. Let’s be clear. I didn’t give permission for my name, image, and likeness to be used by anybody,” Dawkins said in a video posted to X. “All right, by anybody. All right, take a deep breath.”DHS told the Washington Examiner it was playing “lockdown defense” at the southern border.“We will use every Weapon at our disposal, from A to X, to keep Americans safe,” the department said, referring to Dawkins’s nickname, “Weapon X.”“The United States Border Patrol is actively tracking a migrant caravan which departed San Pedro Sula, Honduras on September 20, 2026. USBP is closely engaged with its international partners to monitor their movement and any additional developments,” it added. “USBP reminds migrants that under the leadership of President Trump and [Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin], the border has remained closed and secured for the last 16 months.”“Migrants considering making the dangerous journey to our country should also be aware that the days of ‘catch and release’ are over, and Biden’s disastrous open border policy has been SEALED SHUT. Anyone attempting to illegally enter the United States will be apprehended, prosecuted, and removed from the country,” it concluded.Under a Trump administration that has been mired in attention over its immigration enforcement policies, this is not the first instance of public figures distancing themselves from media images that DHS has posted using their image or intellectual property.Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter railed against the White House online for posting a video with her song “Juno” playing over clips of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protesters getting arrested. Carpenter said the administration did not have her permission, and the video was subsequently deleted.TRUMP TAKES A RED-STATE SWING AS GOP SPLIT ON WHETHER THOSE STATES ARE IN PLAYIndiana Motor Speedway also rebuked references to its IndyCar racetrack and race cars in a DHS announcement of a new migrant detention center in Indiana called the “Speedway Slammer” in August 2025.As of publication time on Monday evening, DHS’s video using Dawkins’s NIL was still posted to X.