Tag Archives: nfl

Openly Gay NBA Player Jason Collins Signed by Brooklyn Nets

by BenitoStingley Posted on February 24, 2014

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

The NBA will have its first openly gay active player. Jason Collins, who came out in Sports Illustrated last April, signed a 10-day contract Sunday with the Brooklyn Nets. When Collins steps on to the court, it will be the first time an athlete who is widely known to be gay will have played in an NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB game.

Collins announced he was gay when, after a slew of injuries, he wasn’t on any team’s roster and he remained unsigned until the Nets recently reached out to him. Collins will likely make his first appearance in the Nets’ Sunday night game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Collins’ NBA return comes as former University of Missouri football player Michael Sam is working out at the NFL Combine and preparing for the league’s May draft. Sam, who came out in February, is looking to be the first openly gay player in the NFL. John Amaechi became the first former NBA player to come out in 2007, though he did so after his five-season career was over. Glenn Burke, who played baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics from 1976 to 1979, may have been the first openly gay player in any major American professional sport—though reporters at the time kept Burke’s sexuality under wraps and the Dodgers even tried paying him to take part in a sham marriage. (Burke refused.)

Collins received the public backing of many NBA stars when he came out last year. That support continued during the signing process, with new teammate Kevin Garnett telling reporters, “I think it’s important that anybody who has the capabilities and skill level gets a chance to do something he’s great at. I think it would be bias, and in a sense, racist, if you were to keep that opportunity from a person.” Collins will wear jersey number 98 with the Nets in honor of Matthew Shepard, the University of Wyoming student whose brutal 1998 beating and death made him a gay rights martyr.

Continued: 

Openly Gay NBA Player Jason Collins Signed by Brooklyn Nets

Posted in Anchor, FF, GE, LAI, LG, Mop, ONA, Oster, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Openly Gay NBA Player Jason Collins Signed by Brooklyn Nets

NFL Apprehensive About Its First Openly Gay Player

by CeciliaMiljanov Posted on February 10, 2014

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

Michael Sam, a defensive end who was projected to be a mid-round choice in the NFL draft this year, announced today that he’s gay. So how did the league react?

“I don’t think football is ready for an openly gay player just yet,” said an NFL player personnel assistant. “In the coming decade or two, it’s going to be acceptable, but at this point in time it’s still a man’s-man game. To call somebody a gay slur is still so commonplace. It’d chemically imbalance an NFL locker room and meeting room.”

All the NFL personnel members interviewed believed that Sam’s announcement will cause him to drop in the draft. He was projected between the third and seventh rounds prior to the announcement. The question is: How far will he fall?

“I just know with this going on this is going to drop him down,” said a veteran NFL scout. “There’s no question about it. It’s human nature. Do you want to be the team to quote-unquote ‘break that barrier?'”

….The potential distraction of his presence — both in the media and the locker room — could prevent him from being selected. “That will break a tie against that player,” the former general manager said. “Every time. Unless he’s Superman. Why? Not that they’re against gay people. It’s more that some players are going to look at you upside down. Every Tom, Dick and Harry in the media is going to show up, from Good Housekeeping to the Today show. A general manager is going to ask, ‘Why are we going to do that to ourselves?'”

The former general manager said that it would take an NFL franchise with a strong owner, savvy general manager and veteran coach to make drafting Sam work. He rattled off franchises like Pittsburgh, Green Bay, San Francisco, Baltimore and Indianapolis as potential destinations. The former general manager added that a team with a rookie head coach would not be an ideal landing spot.

Moral of the story: Yes, we’ve made progress. But we still have a ways to go.

See more here: 

NFL Apprehensive About Its First Openly Gay Player

Posted in FF, GE, LG, ONA, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on NFL Apprehensive About Its First Openly Gay Player

Duke Energy hires a congressman

by Myrna Posted on November 27, 2012

Duke Energy hires a congressman

By Philip Bump

Duke Energy has a proud tradition of excellent staffing moves. So we must congratulate the company on its latest hire: a sitting congressman.

forallofus

Rep. Shuler.

From The Hill:

Retiring Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) already has a new job lined up: he’ll be a top federal affairs official with North Carolina-based Duke Energy, the nation’s largest electric utility.

The Charlotte-based company, which has more than seven million customers and plenty of interests before regulators and Congress, announced Monday that Shuler will be senior vice president of federal affairs beginning in January.

The conservative Democrat won’t vote on any matters affecting Duke Energy for the remainder of his time in Congress, the company said in a statement that touted the hiring of the one-time Washington Redskins quarterback.

That’s the commitment to ethical integrity our Congress is known for: No voting on issues related to your future employer. Strictly verboten. Hard line in the sand.

Plus, he’ll have to wait an entire year before coming back to Capitol Hill.

A Duke spokesman, citing House ethics rules, said Shuler would not be “actively lobbying” for one year but could do so after that period. Shuler will be overseeing and determining how to strengthen Duke’s D.C. office, spokesman Tom Williams said.

Tip No. 1: Hire congressmembers.

According to Politico, at least one green is enthusiastic about Shuler’s move.

Kelly Martin of the Sierra Club North Carolina Campaign — a former Shuler aide [Ed. – From 2007 until last year] — praised her former boss as a “strong environmental champion.” “He voted to curb greenhouse gas emissions and repeatedly voted to support clean energy solutions, showing his leadership on curbing climate change and building a clean energy economy that protects human health and the environment,” she said.

Yes, I’m confident that Shuler and his 71 percent environmental voting record will turn the massive ship that is Duke Energy toward a greener tomorrow. He’ll likely be as successful at that as he was in the NFL.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

Read more:

Business & Technology

,

Climate & Energy

,

Politics

Also in Grist

Please enable JavaScript to see recommended stories

View post: 

Duke Energy hires a congressman

Posted in GE, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Duke Energy hires a congressman