Tag: NFL

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Minnesota: Vikings cut LGBT ally Chris Kluwe

As Chris Kluwe forecast after they drafted UCLA punter Jeff Locke in the fifth round last week, the Minnesota Vikings have released him.

From the Star Tribune:

The 31-year-old was given the news Monday morning at Winter Park during a meeting with General Manager Rick Spielman. Kluwe had been anticipating the move, one that became transparent April 27 when the team used a fifth-round draft pick on UCLA punter Jeff Locke.

Locke participated in the team’s three-day rookie mini-camp over the weekend and fared well enough for the Vikings to feel totally secure in selecting him. And that meant kicking the door open and sending Kluwe on his way.

While the Vikings won’t admit it, it’s clear Kluwe’s public support for equality became a headache for the team. Punters in the NFL rarely have the kind of high profile, political voice Kluwe has demonstrated. I imagine the Vikings would very much like to have a punter in the more “anonymous” vein.

I do love this quote from Chip Scoggins – pretty much sums it up:

Kluwe’s departure will make the Vikings locker room a lot more dull because he is incredibly intelligent, articulate and passionate about societal issues. He’s a fascinating individual in a sport that breeds conformity. The NFL has become so big and so powerful that players often cling to political correctness for fear that a ripple might swell into a tidal wave. Kluwe is that surfer dude on top of the wave, hanging 10 on any issue that stirs his emotion.

Kluwe, always a class act, wrote this on Twitter as the news broke:

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New York Jets release Tim Tebow

The NY Times is reporting that the New York Jets have released Tim Tebow:

On Monday morning, the Jets cut Tebow with no pomp, a victim of circumstance. They acknowledged an experiment gone awry with a news release that said, simply, “Jets waive QB Tim Tebow.” There was no mention in that release of Tebow’s statistics with the Jets, perhaps in part because there were none worth mentioning.

He was more afterthought than asset, more distraction than revelation, a decoy who played a greater role on special teams than behind center.

No word on where Tebow could end up in the NFL.

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Minnesota: Is the Vikings Chris Kluwe on the “cut” list?

On Saturday, the Minnesota Vikings drafted UCLA punter Jeff Locke in the fifth round.  Some see this as writing on the wall that the Vikings current kicker (and LGBT ally), Chris Kluwe, may be on his way out, and that the reason for his exit will be “distractions” related to activism for LGBT civil rights, NBC Sports’ Mike Florio reports:

Of course, the distractions weren’t a problem when Kluwe was staying up very late playing Guitar Hero and Worlds of Warcraft, or staying out very late on Friday night doing shows with his band.  After Kluwe opted to get behind a controversial social cause while also getting to bed at a decent hour, the team opted to acquire a player who, given that he was selected in round five, will likely have the field tilted in his favor when it comes to determining whether he or Kluwe gets the Water Pik.

Kluwe told Florio: “It’s a shame that in a league with players given multiple second chances after arrests, including felony arrests, that speaking out on human rights has a chance of getting you cut,” Kluwe told PFT via text message.

(via Towleroad)

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Openly gay Kicker Alan Gendreau waits for the NFL to call

Alan Gendreau, the placekicker who is hoping to become the first openly gay player in the NFL, was the first out player to enter the draft this week. Unfortunately, he’s still waiting to be picked.

Check out his interview with ABC News while we wait. Fingers crossed Gendreau at least gets a shot at making it in the NFL.

(via the Advocate)

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NFL agrees to not ask questions about sexuality of potential players

(image via Memegraph)

After discussions with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who last month expressed concern over reports that potentional recruits at the NFL Combine were being asked questions to possibly determine whether or not they are gay, the NFL has announced it will be reinforcing policies against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Via Capital New York:

Under an agreement reached with the NFL and the Player’s Association, the league’s collective bargaining agreement will be expanded to protect newly recruited players from being asked questions such as whether they like women or have a girlfriend.

“Schneiderman’s office was concerned the questions were designed to determine whether a player is gay and potentially block them from being drafted. At the same time, posters will be added to locker rooms directing players to call the Player’s Association if they suspect there is discrimination.

“These interviews determine the future course of their lives… We’re just making sure the non-discrimination applies to everyone,” Schneiderman said in the interview.

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Brendon Ayanbadejo: Possibly four players considering coming out on same day

Brendon Ayanbadejo appeared on MSNBC with Thomas Roberts to discuss his release from the Baltimore Ravens plus his comments about multiple NFL players possibly coming out on a single day.

In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, Brendon had said there are players – possibly four – in the NFL considering coming out at the same time to take the pressure off one player:

“I think it [an openly gay player] will happen sooner than you think. We’re in talks with a handful of players who are considering it. There are up to four players being talked to right now and they’re trying to be organized so they can come out on the same day together. It would make a major splash and take the pressure off one guy. It would be a monumental day if a handful or a few guys come out.

“Of course, there would be backlash. If they could share the backlash, it would be more positive. It’s cool. It’s exciting. We’re in talks with a few guys who are considering it. The NFL and organizations are already being proactive and open if a player does it and if something negative happens. We’ll see what happens.”

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Patriots Rob Gronkowski: An openly gay player would be “another teammate and another friend”

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski appeared on ESPN Radio New York recently saying that he’s fine with a gay player on the team:

“I got this question before, about a year ago, and I basically will say the same answer that I did a year ago. You’ve got to accept the player. Everyone has their own ways to live their life and as long as he’s respecting me, keeping distance, respecting myself, I’ll respect him back. If he’s being a great teammate and he’s a guy on the field doing a great job, well then you’ve got nothing to complain about. He’s another teammate and another friend.”

“If someone is on my team and they are a great teammate and a great player on the field, helping the team win — that’s all you’ve got to ask for.”

No active NFL player has publicly come out as gay, although a report from CBSSports.com this week states that a current NFL player is “strongly considering” doing so.

(via ESPN)

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Scott Fujita on marriage equality – ‘Why is common sense not enough?’

Scott Fujita, an 11-year N.F.L. veteran and an ambassador for Athlete Ally, which fights homophobia in sports, has written a powerful op-ed for the New York Times on the subject of marriage equality and the many examples he plans to use to explain to his young daughters how and why discrimination against gay marriage existed and the progress that has been made. From the New York Times:

I support marriage equality for so many reasons: my father’s experience in an internment camp and the racial intolerance his family experienced during and after the war, the gay friends I have who are really not all that different from me, and also because of a story I read a few years back about a woman who was denied the right to visit her partner of 15 years when she was stuck in a hospital bed. My belief is rooted in a childhood nurtured by a Christian message of love, compassion and acceptance. It’s grounded in the fact that I was adopted and know there are thousands of children institutionalized in various foster programs, in desperate need of permanent, safe and loving homes, but living in states that refuse to allow unmarried couples, including gays and lesbians, to adopt because they consider them not fit to be parents. In articulating all my feelings about marriage equality, I almost don’t know where to begin. And perhaps that’s part of the problem. Why do we have to explain ourselves when it comes to issues of fairness and equality? Why is common sense not enough?

Read the entire essay here. In December 2011, Fujita recorded a video for Americans for Marriage Equality:

In 2009, Fujita was named the New Orleans Saints’ “Man of the Year” for his contributions on the field and in the community. Thank you, Scott Fujita.

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CA: Chris Kluwe & Brendon Ayanbedejo file amicus brief in support of same-sex marriage

LGBT allys and NFL football players Chris Kluwe (Minnesota Vikings) and Brendon Ayanbedejo (Baltimore Ravens) have filed their own amicus brief in support of repealing Prop 8 in California.  The brief was filed on the last day “friend of the court” briefs could be filed.

From ESPN:

In the brief, Kluwe and Ayanbadejo argue that athletes have a good deal of influence — for better or worse — and they wanted to express their support for the right of gays to marry legally.

“When we advance the idea that some people should be treated differently because of who they are,” they wrote, “demeaned in public as lesser beings, not worthy of the same rights and benefits as others despite their actions as good citizens and neighbors, then we deny them equal protection under the laws. America has walked this path before, and courageous people and the Court brought us to the right result. We urge the Court to repeat those actions here.”

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NFL teams reportedly worried that Manti Te’o is gay

Seriously.  When you’re a player at Manti’s level, do teams really care?

From ThinkProgress:

National Football League teams want to know the same thing of the projected first-round draft pick at the league’s annual scouting combine, according to NBC and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who told radio host Dan Patrick that the issue of Te’o’s sexuality has become “the elephant in the room” for NFL teams interested in drafting him. CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman has the transcript, part of which is here:

“On the field, you still have to account for what happened in the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama,” Florio told the Dan Patrick Show. “Here’s the elephant in the room for the teams and it shouldn’t matter, but we have to step aside from the rest of reality and walk into the unique industry that is the NFL. Teams want to know whether Manti Te’o is gay. They just want to know. They want to know because in an NFL locker room, it’s a different world. It shouldn’t be that way.” […]

Patrick interrupted Florio to ask: “You’re telling me that you’re hearing from teams who want to know this, but how do you ask it? Are they trying to find a finesse way to ask that question, or are they going to do investigative work on finding out if Manti Te’o is gay?”

Florio said: “It’s been described to me as the proverbial elephant in the room and I don’t think anyone knows how to solve this dilemma yet. It’s just that they want to know what they’re getting. They want to know what issues they may be dealing with down the road. We just assumed that at some point there would be an openly gay player in an NFL locker room and the team would have to work with the realities and make sure that everything’s fine.”

Manti, apparently, is not the only player to be asked about his sexuality, the HuffPost reports:

NFL prospect Nick Kasa was asked by scouts about his sexual orientation at the NFL Combine, the tight end said in a radio interview on Tuesday.

Kasa, a senior at the University of Colorado, is one of a few hundred players who participated this week in the NFL Scouting Combine, an annual showcase for NFL prospects in advance of April’s draft. Over the course of the Combine, participants submit themselves for a variety of physical and mental tests, as well as interviews with NFL teams. According to Kasa, it was during these interviews that the topic of his sexual preferences came up.

“[Teams] ask you like, ‘Do you have a girlfriend?’ Are you married?’ Do you like girls?’” Kasa told CJ and Kreckman of ESPN Radio Denver on Tuesday. “Those kinds of things, and you know it was just kind of weird. But they would ask you with a straight face, and it’s a pretty weird experience altogether.”

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told Outsports the league is investigating:

“Like all employers, our teams are expected to follow applicable federal, state and local employment laws. It is league policy to neither consider nor inquire about sexual orientation in the hiring process. In addition, there are specific protections in our collective bargaining agreement with the players that prohibit discrimination against any player, including on the basis of sexual orientation. We will look into the report on the questioning of Nick Kasa at the Scouting Combine. Any team or employee that inquires about impermissible subjects or makes an employment decision based on such factors is subject to league discipline.”