"We certainly believe, speaking for the Players Association, that we have a tremendous social and cultural impact... We definitely understand the effect that we have on society and culture, and we feel we have a responsibility to have very high standards. With something like discrimination of any kind, we just want to make sure we are a symbol for good."
September 27, 2011
All right, all you laggards in the drive for gay rights: The good, as symbolized by football, has been defined.
The NFL prohibits discrimination against players based on sexual orientation, and George Atallah, spokesman for the NFLPA, says:
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Howcum all the guys on San Francisco want to play center?
All right, all you laggards in the drive for gay rights: The good, as symbolized by football, has been defined.
So, take off your cleats and put on your ballet slippers.
So now it's ok to lead with the helmet first? Then I guess it is acceptable as long as your not drilling an unprotected wide receiver.
Who or what isn't going to fall short being a "symbol for good."
That said, it's a good gesture.
Calling Shelby Steele! Calling Shelby Steele . . . . .
The declaration of someone being "the leagues best tight end" will cause some confusion.
The utility of this rule will not be in the form of protecting gay NFL football players, but rather in punishing the anti-gay comments and actions of straight NFL football players.
My guess is that the ratio of homophobic NFL players to homosexual NFL players is about 1100 to 1.
With something like discrimination of any kind, we just want to make sure we are a symbol for good.
AH! I was waiting for something like this. I'm going down to Rams Park today and tell them that I want to start at inside linebacker this Sunday. Sure, I haven't played since college ball back in 88-92. Sure, I'm 41. Sure, I'm out of shape and don't run anywhere near the 4.4 40 I used to, but since they're taking the high road and not discriminating anymore, I should be a shoe-in.
I assume this new policy means they're going to have a separate locker room for openly gay players, right? I mean, the cheerleaders don't get dressed with the team, do they?
I guess ActUp gave them an ultimatum.
Given that the homosexual "rights" crowd are the most vicious Alinskyoids of all, I don't doubt the NFL caved quickly.
Everyone on the New York Giants is gay. There's something wrong with that.
The high standard they set in Cincinnati is Bengal Jerome Simpson being caught with 8 pounds of pot in his house. 8 pounds, a life time supply for Cheech and Chong. That's a HIGH standard.
"My guess is that the ratio of homophobic NFL players to homosexual NFL players is about 1100 to 1."
I actually doubt that the overwhelming majority of football players are 'homophobic." They tend to be younger, and younger people care far less about others' sexual orientation. Still, I can name only one gay (ex) pro football player (Former Packer Esera tuaolo), so who knows.
Redskin Jerry Smith was there long ago.
AllenS said...
Everyone on the New York Giants is gay. There's something wrong with that.
Don't tell Troop that.
You keep using this term "gay rights"...exactly what rights don't gay people have?
(NB - understand "right" before you answer)
I wonder if the first openly gay player will get patted on the ass after a successful play?
So do the homosexual crusaders for all that is right and true in the world finally have enough phony external validation for what they do with their junk yet?
Somehow I guess the answer is no...
I wish I had a football-related gay joke.
I'm sure there's a lot of politically incorrect banter going on in locker rooms, so maybe the NFL decided this might prevent some PR or legal problems down the road.
I think it's great that this is their policy.
The NFL doesn't discriminate against violent felons, people who torture helpless animals to death, and other fine role models, as long as they can run, kick, tackle, block or throw. It would look REALLY bad for the NFL if being gay, which hurts nobody, were the only thing that would disqualify a player.
I am against any kind of special rights for gay sex.
What kind of transgression would I be making, in a typical office environment, if I just decided I was going to start using the women's bathroom for all of my toiletry needs?
I wonder if the first openly gay player will get patted on the ass after a successful play?
More importantly, will the here-to-fore common ass-patting now be basis for a sexual harassment suit?
Certainly no one thought that all of the butt slapping that goes on out there was purely platonic?
The "tight end" and "wide receiver" jokes just write themselves for this headline, do they not?
Good on 'em, but the idea that the official policy makes a difference is kinda ludicrous.
Any meaningful discrimination will be more subtle and player-on-player, for the most part - just like in every important context.
(I suspect Mr. GUID, above, is correct in how it'll play out in practice.
Though on the other hand, "homophobic comments" are not themseves "discrimination"; to discriminate [in context] requires an act against a specific individual, not just "mean words about the gays".
Being a bigot is not the same as discriminating, especially in the absence of the targeted group.
[EG. a Neo-Nazi can be actively and vocally bigoted against Jews all day long without discriminating against them, as long as he isn't in contact with any or in a position of power over any.
And if there are Jews in his presence he didn't know were Jewish? Well, he might make them uncomfortable, quite rightly on their part, but he can't be discriminating against them...])
OK, if running around and bumping into people is your definition of Good, may you enjoy it to the fullest in your spandex-clad bootie.
Very good for the NFL.
But just curious, if they realize that effect and feel that responsibility, why not ban violent felons from playing?
With something like discrimination of any kind, we just want to make sure we are a symbol for good.
So where are all the women in the NFL?
My guess is that the ratio of homophobic NFL players to homosexual NFL players is about 1100 to 1
Who really knows? Why would football players be any less representative of the population than any other group? I seem to remember a pop psychology theory from a few decades ago saying that playing football is to a significant degree homo-erotic activity, and some latent homosexual tendencies are being acted out by some.
I wish I had a football-related gay joke.
I do, but I'm not telling it here.
pop psychology theory = total bullshit.
So the next time color commentary is, "that guys has great hands and good ball control", what are we to think?
And what I really want to know, will they allow openly gay cheerleaders?
You know the real skinny?
Penn Jillette worked in San Francisco for something like 12 years. Where he and Teller got started.
Penn mentions this. He says straight guys got it all wrong! Because GAY GUYS never make passes at straight guys.
To prove this. (Which he's discussed on UTube. And, his show Bullshit.) Is something he did by testing this theory out.
Back in 1981. Before the AIDS epidemic got labeled. And, the place where he was doing his "juggling/magic act" ... had a bartender (who was gay). And, Jillette said he wanted to see all this gay sex in front of his eyeballs ... So he wanted to go to the Gay bathhouse.
Long story. But he ends up going. He's naked. With a towel around his neck. Because the towel isn't large enough to fit around his waist.
Jillette walks around naked, in front of the gay guys at this club. Who are ONLY there for sex. AND, NO ONE PICKS HIM UP! He got rejected!
You can't miss Jillette! He wears a size 15 shoe. He's nearly 7 feet tall. And, he doesn't care. He'd do it, IF he got asked.
And, he didn't get asked.
Why do straight guys fear homosexual men? It's not as if one of them will grab their package, ya know?
You're more than likely to get your package grabbed in Vegas, by a showgirl. (Make that most likely if they pick up extra cash when the house is selling drinks.)
Learn something new every day. That's my motto.
This could lead to banning post game prayers to that homophobic God who wrote those hate scriptures.
If you need to pray to win, you haven't practiced enough.
Not only are the Giants gay, they have cross dressers that show up @ Lee Lee's Valise to get fashionable clothes.
I suspect Trooper is too smart to fall for your lame attempts to bait him.
Learn something new every day. That's my motto.
Even if it's not true.
I love it when the word "discrimination" is used as a synonym for illegal discrimination or irrational discrimination. It makes the discussion so wonderfully absurd.
It makes the discussion so wonderfully absurd.
Good point.
WV - "phoottio" An intimate slobbering of the phoo.
The NFL is a symbol for entertaining the masses by employing outrageously stong people to beat the stuffing out of each other within a set of rules that barely restrains them - to the point that seeing at least one injury per game that will cause the injured person to suffer the rest of their life is commonplace and to the point that the participants' average life expectancy is far lower than the average spectator.
This is not some holier-than-thou screed. I love watching the NFL. But it seems to me that THEY are acting holier-than-thou. The NFL is hardly a source to be considered for authority on the proper use of sexuality.
Because GAY GUYS never make passes at straight guys.
Nonsense. Back in my salad days I had gay guys make passes at me a number of times. You're making an absurd statement.
My guess is that the ratio of homophobic NFL players to homosexual NFL players is about 1100 to 1.
Also nonsense. Given the physical fitness and/or strength of your average NFL player, I seriously doubt that any of them have any kind of fear of gay guys, never mind an irrational one.
Few things are so disruptive to the smooth operation of a team as a player putting his own personal agenda ahead of the team and doing the job he is paid to do.
For example, notwithstanding last night's effort, the Washington Redskins are a 1000 percent better team without the locker room drama of Donovan "Overrated" McNabb.
without the locker room drama of Donovan "Overrated" McNabb
Racist.
Maybe now Troy Aikman can come out of the closet.
Penn Jillette makes the statement that straight guys are not approached by gays!
To demonstrate this ... he talks about his turn at going to the gay baths ... where you shed all your clothes when entering. (You pay $60, so that this is a private club.)
And, they hand you a towel.
Penn Jillette describes himself as weighing almost 300 pounds. And, standing nearly 7 feet tall. His shoe size is 15.
Jillette then says IF a gay guy had come over to him, he'd have "done it." Just to see what it was like. And, because he wasn't just going in to "watch."
Anyway, without your clothes on, they hand you a towel. The towel was too small to fit around Jillette's waistline. So he wrapped it around the back of his neck. And, walked, stark naked. Dick flapping. Around for 5 hours. And, NO ONE APPROACHED HIM!
Talk of getting rejected!
Penn Jillette does. And, then he says (from his decades of experience in the theater business ... that straight men are left alone by gays.)
It's a monumental LIE when you hear straight men saying they are sure gay men would surge into their underpants.
I believe Penn Jillette.
I don't believe you, RonF. Unless you're a closet gay. In which case you're just gay. And, you'll be approached.
You can check Penn Jillette out on the Internet, if you don't believe me.
That's why I said "I learn something new every day." Because I heard Penn Jillette saying this on a CD I'm playing. And, I heard this TODAY.
It's not a magic trick.
The TRUTH can't live in a closet. (Penn Jillette said that too.)
Carol,
I've been hit on by gay men. This invalidates your theory.
What guy in his right mind would hit on 7 feet of possible whoopass parading naked in a bath house with a towel wrapped around his neck like a crazy person?
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