Roger Goodell is the most powerful man in sports because he knows how to make money. But last week, when NFL personnel were creating a hot button mess of sexual orientation questions, Goodell could have shown himself to be something other than a rainmaker in a really sharp suit. He could have shown himself to be a human being.
All he had to do was stand in front of the cameras and tell his NFL talent evaluators to cut it out. He could have put all those in his employ on notice that questions about a prospect’s sexual orientation don’t belong on the same checklist as how fast they run or how far they can throw a football.
Goodell should have known better than to say nothing. Too many people are content to say nothing when saying something, anything, could make all the difference in the world. Saying nothing means that we allow the wrong questions to matter way more than they should.
Anyways, I asked myself, how would Cayman Thorn respond to a pro scout’s sexual orientation question. Hmmm. . .
“Cayman . . . are you . . gay?”
“And how!”
“Really?”
“Ch’Yeah! I’m thisclose to playing in the NFL! I haven’t been this excited since I dated a Yoga instructor!”
“Are we talking about the same gay here?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking if you’re gay.”
“Oh. You mean show tunes gay?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Into chaps, Cher and drama gay?”
“Are you? . . Do . . you?”
“All of the above?”
“Are you, Cayman?”
“Well, all of the above are stereotypes. They’re used in an indiscriminately discriminating way, as a means of filing someone’s sexual preference into a Rolodex.”
“You introduced those stereotypes! . . . I’m simply asking a question.”
“It doesn’t feel like a question. It feels like a sad and ignorant statement, the kind to which stereotypes are usually born.”
“I didn’t mean to offend.”
“No, you want to sneak a peek inside my little black book . . that’s not offensive at all.“
“Sorry.”
“It’s funny, you have a live wire drip attached to your ear. You could dime up someone on the other side of the world with that Bluetooth and it doesn’t make a damned bit of difference to you why it works that way. All that matters is that it works for you.”
“What are you getting at?”
“What I’m getting at, prospective boss man, is that your ignorance doesn’t keep you from accepting that piece of plastic that can dial up Tokyo in the middle of the night. Yet . . somehow, your ignorance isn’t so accepting of people, real people? Whose only crime is being different than you?”
“I uh . . .”
“Alright, lemme ask you a question that doesn’t require such deep thought.”
“Go right ahead.”
“How’s the clubhouse situation on your team?”
“Excuse me?”
“The clubhouse, give me a feel for the dynamics I would be walking into.”
“I don’t understand your line of questioning.”
“Okay, how many players on your roster have been charged with a crime?”
“Why does that matter?”
“It matters lots. I don’t dig the idea of working next to a guy who drinks and drives his pal into a sidewall, or beats on his woman, or a guy who goes all Wild West in nightclubs, or shoots dogs for fun. It’s not a healthy working environment for me. And it seems that the league employs quite a few of these fellows.”
“Okay, Cayman . . . I get it.”
“Do you? Or do you celebrate it? It seems as if your league is really good at placing a high profile on bad guys. Really . . what choice would a gay man have in your league, but to stay silent in such a daunting workplace?”
“You made your point . . .”
“Of course, you’re simply looking to protect gay football players from the Mad Max world you guys perpetuate, right? So you issue a declarative statement under the guise of a question, whose intent couldn’t be more clear if you painted it red and called it Bulls Eye.”
“I get it!”
“Nah, I don’t think you do. But some day? You’ll be forced to get it. Because some day, some hot shot kid with skills to the moon and back, is gonna come out before an NFL draft. And then, I wanna see what all you genius talent evaluators do about him. I want to see if you bypass that kid based on what he does behind closed doors.”
The interview ends, and Cayman Thorn walks away. Never having answered a question that never should be asked in the first place. Eh, I’m not so much ashamed of being a football fan as I am of being a member of the human race sometimes.
Comments on: "It’s time we stop tolerating the intolerant" (13)
Good lord, if I ever have to do a press conference, I’m hiring you as my spokesman.
And I couldn’t agree more.
Who cares? If the guy can catch the ball and run the ball, or stop the other guy from doing the same, hire him.
(And if the other team is ridiculously homophobic and will run like hell from this guy…definitely hire him!!
Guapo- I know, right? It is shameful that we’re even having this conversation in 2013, sixty five years after integration in baseball.
Goodell conveniently swept this story under the proverbial rug as there hasn’t been a word written about it since the story broke. Haven’t heard that the interviewer was confronted or repremanded, or why he felt it necessary to implement this sort of questioning…and at whose behest?
Just way too much power for one man..a man who is ruthless, egotistical, self-serving, unaplogetic, and class-less.
Fantasy- Goodell speaks out of two sides of his mouth. He lists player safety as a priority and fears there will be a death on the field, yet he continues talking up an 18 game season. Not to mention, I don’t think he comes down nearly hard enough on guys like Ray Lewis, who made himself a nice career by leading with his head on tackles rather than his arms.
Exactly! I think Goodell has like just one more year left on his contract. Would love to go to his going away party…
Go Cayman! Any kind of discrimination makes my skin crawl…
Susie- This is a civil rights issue, and I’m kinda shocked the ACLU hasn’t been heard from before now. The idea that a prospective employer can ask such questions may not be illegal, but it’s ethically irresponsible. Not to mention morally reprehensible.
Well said. Dear God, I hope that before I leave this world progress will have been made in acceptance. Speaking out about intolerance is a step in the right direction. Thank you, Cayman.
Mary- I do believe you hit on the right word for it, too. Acceptance, rather than tolerance. You always hear people talk about ‘tolerance’ when it comes to gay people. Well, as far as I’m concerned, you tolerate an odor, or the meter maid who beats you to your car. The idea that other human beings must be tolerated is high minded BS. Thank you for reading.
He’s a guy who wants cake and ice cream when the choice is OR.
aFrank- Hopefully, Roger will be over and out soon enough.
You go, Cayman! Nicely said. Of course, again, I have no clue about the interview or Goodell, but I don’t need that info. Bottom line, discrimination has to stop. I sure as hell don’t care if anyone is gay, no matter if they’re fielding a ball, running for office, leading a Boy Scout troop. Why the hell does it matter??? Gay is not the same as immoral. We need to ask the right questions, of the right people, and leave the rest alone.
4am- You go girl! And you’re right on, as usual. It doesn’t make one damned bit of difference what someone’s sexual orientation resume looks like. All that should matter is how their abilities can profit the team. We’re getting there, slowly but surely. It’s just unfortunate to think that we still have to get there in the year 2013.