On a day San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver offered a lame apology for making homophobic remarks, 49ers’ 
linebacker Ahmad Brooks and nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga, denied that they helped produce a much-praised “It Gets Better” video last summer, the first such video made by an National Football League team. Dan Savage, who founded the “It’s Gets Better” project, removed the video from his organization’s website — the first time such an action has been taken.
In an interview with USA Today, the players said that they didn’t realize the video’s aim was to specifically combat bullying experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens.
“This is America and if someone wants to be gay, they can be gay,” Brooks told the publication. “But I didn’t make any video.” Later, after he was reportedly shown the video on an iPhone, the player clarified, “Oh, that. It was an anti-bullying video, not a gay [rights] video.”
Sopoaga also denied taking part in the clip, even as a teammate allegedly tried to refresh his memory. “I never went,” he declared. “And now someone is using my name.”
Here is Truth Wins Out’s statement on this incident:
The repellent actions of these players are absolutely outrageous and insulting. They are a slap in the face to America’s most gay-friendly metropolis and a rejection of the inclusive values that have made San Francisco one of the world’s great cities. As for Brooks and Sopoaga, they are entitled to place their ignorance on full display, but they should realize that it comes with a prohibitive cost to their reputations, the city they represent, and the sport in which they are supposed to be ambassadors.
Their crass words and clueless actions actions are as divisive as they are dumb — tearing at the fabric of San Francisco at a time when the Super Bowl should be uniting the city, as well as football fans everywhere. That these men, as well as Culliver, have foolishly elected to use their Super Bowl spotlight to demean and dehumanize a substantial portion of their fan base is a brazen act of arrogance that encourages the very bullying the ‘It Gets Better’ project addresses.
It is our view that the San Francisco 49ers should suspend Culliver without pay for the first two games next season. And the team should strongly contemplate parting ways with Brooks and Sopoaga next year for the breach of trust and significant harm they have done to the team’s reputation and relationship with the city.”
No words. Very sad and Pathetic.
My guess is that in their case, homophobia won out. I thought it was too good to be true, especially coming from professional football players, and I was right.
Yes, extremely sad and pathetic.
They could have used this opportunity for good — instead they chose to be bullies. What a missed opportunity.
Go Ravens!
These players are spineless.
Can’t wait to see them booed repeatedly as they take to the field to LOSE the game on Sunday…
I heard this clip on Signorile’s radio show yesterday and before I knew what the story was about, I thought, ‘who the hell is that moron’?
“…none o’ that sweet stuff…” Why do the obnoxious homophobic trolls always think they’re soooo desirable to gay men. NOT!
ps..the interviewer was a big jerk too! Why would he even ask an athlete about their love/sex life. Who cares!
Dear Mr Besen, Thank you for the excellent articles, and warmest compliments for your work.
Re Van den Aardweg: His dissertation appeared in 1967 (Homofilie, Neurose en Dwangzelfbeklag / Homophilia, Neurosis and Compulsive Self-Pity). It was very controversial even then, and many people thought it was not worthy of a doctorate. It is highly derivative and stunningly selective.
His main theory about the Compulsive Self-Pity comes from J.L.Arndt, with whom VdA trained as a psychotherapist, and of course his basic presuppositions (masculinity/femininity, Natural Order etc.) come from Thomas Aquinas… I remember an interview in 1967 in which VdA states that homosexuals are ill and have to be cured (sic), and even if cure would be impossible homosexuality should not be tolerated. His ideas mainly count in Right Wing Christian circles nowadays. The present Archbishop of Utrecht used VdA’s dissertation when teaching his Seminary students about homosexuality -not long ago…
Ha! 49ers lost! Just goes to show, the side of bigotry is always the losing side! ;)
[...] One more thing: Screw you 49ers. [...]
What do you expect from thugs involved in a brutal, gladiatorial blood sport? I’m sorry, but I have serious reservations about the sport, what it does to the players, the sexual insecurity of its fan base, and the amount of resources and attention devoted to it. Like many other things in our culture, it is a replacement for having an inner life, either intellectually or spiritually. If you want to talk about morality, look at what football does: it ruins the players’ health, puts billions of dollars into gladiatorial entertainment, makes its owners super rich in a world where 270 million people are starving to death, and promotes a kind of insecure hyper masculinity that harms society.
[...] bash now have to think twice about what they say before tripping over their own words and making unwanted headlines. Enough space has also been carved out, where straight athletes can finally speak out on our [...]