Athletes and politics

I think athletes can say what they want about politics, but it can make fans have a negative opinion of them. So i don't think athletes should speak out because it is in there best interest not to. I think a professional athlete speaking out about politics is different than the average joe speaking out because the athlete is in the media all the time so everyone will know when they speak out. On the other hand if the average joe speaks out not a lot of people will hear it. It can be good for an athlete to speak out if they are supporting a good candidate or if they are opposing someone like Rush Limbaugh who has a really conservative opinion. I think it is a good idea for athletes to speak out against Limbaugh because i think he would just cause problems for the NFL and for the Rams and the Rams don't need anymore problems. The point i'm trying to make is that athletes have to be careful when they speak out because they can get themselves into trouble if they don't.