Tag Archives: Cleveland Browns

WTF? – The NFL WILL NOT Discipline Tank Carder For His Anti-Gay ‘Faggot’ Twitter Barrage

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Earlier this week Cleveland Browns linebacker Tank Carder used the word “faggot” in an exchange on Twitter and then spewed a series of ugly follow-up tweets.

Said Carder, complaining about people angry at him for using the slur: “Yea, they all gettin butt hurt.”  He later added, “I don’t agree with being gay or lesbian at all, but saying faggot doesn’t make me a homophobe, it’s just a word.”

Carder  later “apologized” after being called out by a legion of LGBT and LGBT straight allies on Twitter and his team The Cleveland Browns issuing a statement which read: “These comments are certainly not reflective of the Cleveland Browns organization, nor do we condone them in any fashion. We have spoken with Tank and have made this very clear to him.”

And even though Major League Soccer puts the penalty on such a public homophobic language at a three-game suspension, the NBA fines players to the tune the cost at $50k, and Major League Baseball has suspended players for up to two weeks, The NFL has DECLINED to take any further action against Carter.

Outsports reports:

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told Outsports via email:

We were in contact with the club and the club addressed it with the player. Divisive comments of that nature can only be hurtful to many fans and has no place in the NFL. The Browns made clear to the player that it was unacceptable and he issued a public apology

If Carter would have used the “N” word or some other epithet, his career with the NFL would be over or at least in jeopardy. Instead it’s a, “that kind of talk is inappropriate…” nudge, nudge, wink, wink, but boys will be boys from the NFL.

Pathetic 

Gay TCU Football Alum Responds To Tank Carder’s Anti-Gay Tweets

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As the response grows from Cleveland Browns and TCU (Texas Christian University) alum Tank Carder and his homophobic rant on twitter comes this letter from an alum of TCU.  Vincent Pryor, who was during his tenure at TCU faced the fear of coming out of the closet wanted to tell Carder why what he said was wrong in the form of a well thought out letter.

*Disclaimer* again  for the purpose of continuity I am leaving the entirety of the homophobic slurs in context of what is written in Pryor’s  letter.

In this part of the letter, Pryor specifically points out how that fear of coming out almost led to suicide:

I feared that I would be kicked off the team or that my scholarship would be taken away and that my family would be embarrassed and ashamed. As a result, I hid in the background and didn’t play to my full potential because I was concerned that any attention I drew to myself would lead to further questions about my personal life and to rumors or ridicule that would ultimately have me removed from the team.

These fears led me to consider suicide on a number of occasions and it was only through the support of a few close friends that I developed the courage to tell my coaches and teammates that I was gay, just before the last game of my senior year. To my surprise, nearly all of my coaches and teammates supported me. In that final game on Nov. 25, 1994, with a share of the conference championship on the line, I felt free for the first time and I had the best game of my college career. With nothing to fear, I played to my full potential and had a record number of sacks (4 ½), helping my team earn a share of the conference championship and the opportunity to play in a bowl game for the first time in 10 years.

And in this section, Pryor tells Carder how homophobic slurs have so much more meaning than “just a word” and how words do have power:

When you call someone a faggot, it isn’t “just a word.” It is a degrading term that implies there is something wrong with being gay. It implies disgust in something you don’t want to be associated with. And ultimately, it pushes every young athlete who may be struggling with their identity further into the closet, where they are surrounded by their fears and insecurities.

“When you call someone a faggot, you reinforce all of the fears that I struggled with and other young gay athletes struggle with to this day. They will think that your views represent their teammates’ views and they will stay hidden and never realize their full potential as an athlete. Although it may be hard for you to understand, this kind of fear and isolation can be devastating, as it was for me for many years.”

It would be nice for Carder to show some authenticity in his apology instead of retweeting asinine zealots that will support him, in spite of his hateful flaws all the time on twitter. It’s not going away Carder so be an adult and truly own your mistake.

Cleveland Browns Linebacker Tank Carder Uses Homophobic Slurs Then Issues Lame Apology On Twitter

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Surprise, Surprise another know it all that claims to be a good kindhearted Christian feels like they can throw around anti-gay slur and not get caught on twitter but was sadly mistaken. At least that’s what Cleveland Browns Linebacker Tank Carder thought earlier when he let out a rant in response to a tweet he misunderstood a parody account and decided anti-gay language was the best way to to respond.

*Disclaimer* Usually, when I post someone’s homophobic remarks, I edit them for discretionary purposes, but I’m not doing that this time. This crap needs to stop so I’m going to show the complete ugliness of what he said:

“@causewereguys unfollowed…your a faggot for that”

Anti-gay slurs AND bad grammar? Also, regardless of the context, he should have never said it. Anyway, then Carder went on thinking that at first he could validate the responses and then says it AGAIN:

“@craigcraiglife I don’t agree with being gay or lesbian at all, but saying faggot doesn’t make me a homophobe, it’s just a word”

Of course this was later deleted by Carder. So why delete it if it’s just a word? Because slurs like that are ALWAYS more than just a word. They’re hate. So some time passes and he delivers a series of half-assed apology tweets realizing his error in judgement:

“If I offended anyone in anyway, I do apologize, thought the guy was bashing team sports, big misunderstanding”

“I want to sincerely apologize for the word I used! I did not in anyway mean to offend anyone! That tweet doesn’t define me as a person!”

“I was not bashing the gay community in any way…if you knew me you would know I wouldn’t do that. Again I’m sorry if you were offended”

BUT obviously he’s only saying this because he’s trying to be politically correct because as of right now there’s a series of retweets on his twitter feed in which fans say things like “wow people are so touchy” and referring to the incident as “nonsense” so he’s not sorry, he’s just trying to cover his ass.

And again, what a weak excuse saying he thought it was about sports, like that would in some way excuse it? No, it doesn’t. It’s not okay in any way or any setting to use anti-gay speech.  It’s hate and I’m so tired of people using circumstances of anger of confusion to justify it.

What an asshole.

Hunky Cleveland Browns Linebacker Scott Fujita Speaks Out For Same Sex Marriage

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Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita is no stranger to standing up for LGBT rights.

Back in February of 2010, Fujita spoke out against the ‘Focus on the Family’ Tim Tebow Superbowl ad and also talked about having progressive gay rights views and speaking openly about them within the NFL:

It’s just me standing up for equal rights. It’s not that courageous to have an opinion if you think it’s the right thing and you believe it wholeheartedly.”

Now Fujita once again is standing up and speaking out this time on the isue of same sex marriage

Scott Fujita is a definate WOOF A+!