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At a time when we are supposed to be looking forward to the biggest game of the season, we continue to get distracted by the same ol' ignorance that has come to define the football world over the course of the last few years. Rather than just one sector of the NFL taking it on the chin in terms of pure idiocy, we are now in the midst of the entire landscape of the sport we love falling into complete and utter foolishness.
All this happening just 96 hours prior to the start of Super Bowl XLVII between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers.
Of course we can look at some dumb comments by players and chalk it up to them not being in this situation before. After all, there are only two handfuls of players from both squads that have been in the Super Bowl. But, that would be giving a scapegoat to individuals that really don't deserve one.
In reality, Randy Moss calling himself the greatest wide receiver to ever play the game, no matter how unrealistic it may seem, probably represents the most level-headed comment of the week. Considering how absurd his quote was, this just goes to show you what has filled the news cycle surrounding the Super Bowl.
Joe Flacco showed some poor choice in words when responding to the possibility of the Super Bowl moving to a cold-weather city. Meanwhile, Chris Culliver took it one step beyond that by insinuating, in no uncertain terms, that he doesn't want a homosexual teammate.
A certain ESPN columnist inked an article titled, "A Call Kaepernick Should Make" when referencing the quarterback's "relationship" with his birth mother.
Oh yes, we were filled with stories that reminds me of Forrest Gump's saying "stupid is as stupid does."
Was it pure insensitivity that enabled Flacco to come out with a quote that has to be as offensive as it is pure ignorant when posed a question about the Super Bowl being held in New Jersey. (Via NY Post).
“I think it’s retarded,” Flacco said at yesterday’s press conference before catching himself. “I probably shouldn’t say that. I think it’s stupid. If you want a Super Bowl, put a retractable dome on your stadium. Then you can get one. Other than I don’t really like the idea. I don’t think people would react very well to it, or be glad to play anybody in that kind of weather.”
At least Flacco realized the errors of his ways immediately. That being said, how is that term even in his college educated vocabulary? After all, many of us were taught at a young age not to use a term like that when referencing a possible emotional and learning handicap we see in others.
It reminds me of the time I was in middle school. There were two mentally disabled children in my homeroom class. Many of kids were outwardly hostile and mean to them. Even at that young age, I found something inherently wrong with attacking, physically or psychologically, someone that is different than you. My school, at that time, had an awareness day that helped us understand those who were different than the average child. The terms "independent with limits" and "differently abled" were preached to us at that time.
Flacco, who has been through the daily grind of high school and college, and is a professional athlete for a football team, should know better than to even use that term.
The simple fact that he utilized the term "retard" in response to a suggestion about moving the Super Bowl makes this comment even worst. Calling someone "mentally retarded," while not politically correct, is much different than using the "retarded" term when responding to an idea.
We all learned this at a relatively young age.
Then we have Chris Culliver, who in one fell swoop, showed us that bigotry and callousness are still alive in American society today. The South Carolina product and nickel corner for San Francisco had the following to say about homosexuality in the NFL....
“I don’t do the guys. I don’t do that,” Culliver said. “We don’t have any gays on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff.”
This is wrong on so many levels.
First, Culliver was drafted to a city that has a longstanding history of support for the LGBT community. Political and ideological divisions within San Francisco in its history have led to the killing of homosexual politicians, hate crimes on a level never before seen, and a formation of one of the largest LGBT communities in the world.
At the very least, Culliver should have known the dynamics of the community he represents as a player. That's just on a common sense, we have a frontal lobe, premise.
Delving further into it, Culliver could have easily put a homosexual teammate, that isn't out of the closet, in a awkward situation of going to battle with someone that doesn't accept his sexuality. We are taught not to presuppose what others mean when it relates to politically divisive comments. But, what Culliver said represented an archaic and warn out dogma of intolerance for those who do not share his same sexual identity.
Culliver went on to say that he would be attacked by straight men for these comments. Yes sir, you are 100 percent correct in that assumption. Much like there was a vibrant Caucasian community that supported the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, there are many straight individuals that support equality for the LGBT community. Those people have an understanding that being born differently doesn't necessarily make someone else any less of an individual. It is the idea that we all exist in this world for the same purpose and should be brothers/sisters in arms.
America, as a whole has moved past racial/gender/sexual bigotry, but there are still some that work directly against the idea that progression is essential in the continued advancement of our way of life. At 24, it has to be alarming that Culliver falls under that category. He represents our generation and he has the platform to help generate the change that is needed in American culture. However, Culliver used that "stage" to utilize an opinion that is as drawn out and homophobic as some on the lunatic fringe. For that, we should be alarmed.
The National Football League and the professional sports world as a whole will have to address the issue of sexuality. As mainstream American society becomes more understanding of "alternative lifestyles (not a fan of that term), those of us who are paid to write about the sport are going to have to bring this up on the front burner.
We can no longer sit back and enable this machismo culture to stand when the rest of the world is passing us by.
In less general terms, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and every organization in the league should address the "homosexuality" issue as it relates to players. Pure conjecture, but you cannot tell me that there isn't one homosexual player in the entire league. That is a pie in the sky mentality, if you ask me.
What worries me as much is the response his quotes received from fans in San Francisco and even some writers/bloggers that cover the team. "It wasn't a big deal" and "I hope this doesn't impact the game" were two terms continually thrown around.
First, Culliver's comments are much bigger than one game being played in Louisiana on Sunday. Second, it was a big deal. If a Baltimore Ravens' player had made this comment, fans in San Francisco would have attacked him. These fans, some of who I respect a great deal, seem to have blinders on. What Culliver said was not just ignorant and hate filled, it was incendiary at a time when the sports world needs to become more open minded. At the very least, fans in a city that has the largest LGBT community in the United States should know this.
Then we had ESPN's Rick Reilly penning an article about Colin Kaepernick, who has yet to speak with his birth mother, who game him up for adoption when he was a baby. Reilly attempted to use his adopted daughter, Rae, as somewhat of a comparison to Kaepernick's situation.
The article began.......
"Rae, my 23-year-old daughter, is adopted from Korea. Sometimes I look at her and feel for the woman who gave her up, who never got the joy of knowing her, raising her, watching her.
The 49ers' 25-year-old starting quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, is adopted, too. I wonder if he sometimes feels for the woman who gave him up, who didn't get the joy of knowing him and raising him."
This isn't the platform to get into an argument about giving a child up for adoption. There are too many individual factors that come into play here. Age, financial situation, religion etc....
The primary point I am making is that Reilly has no right to preach to Kaepernick the nuances of the latter's individual and personal situation. He is a journalist assigned with covering the professional sports world.
Reilly continues in the article.......
"The Kaepernicks have told Colin they'd have no problem with him speaking to Russo. They even met with her recently without Colin. But Colin hasn't budged on the issue. One of his friends told Yahoo! Sports that Colin would think it's "treasonous" to meet with Russo.
But it's not. It's healthy. It's healing. It's natural."
Who is Reilly to tell Kaepernick what is healthy about his relationship with a woman that gave him up for adoption? Who is he to pretend to have any inkling about the dynamics of the "relationship?"
As a scribe, I find it insulting that someone would write an article such as this in the lead up to the Super Bowl. Heck, it shouldn't even be worthy of any press time on ESPN, or any other site for that matter.
If Kaepernick wants nothing to do with his birth mother, that is his decision. It won't make me change my opinion about the individual that he is, either way.
We in the media need to take a step back and realize that we are covering individuals who are as human as you or I. Despite having a career in the public arena, they deserve some sense of privacy in their lives.
Assuming you know something about a lack of relationship between a son and his mother is going too far. Attempting to sway an individuals' action as it relates to that relationship is boorish.
With all this said, let's actually get back to covering football. Let's take this time to realize that the Super Bowl is about to take place and promises to be one heck of a game. Let's look forward to the PGA season, Spring Training, the rest of the NBA season and the lockout-shortened NHL season.
Let's leave this utter foolishness behind, while still realizing that there are things that need to be addressed in the sports world.
Those are my two cents.