Tag Archives: football

Charlotte’s WBTV reports: The San Francisco 49ers are calling for a repeal of House Bill 2. The team’s CEO, Jed York, made the announcement, along with a “gift” of $75,000 to the Equality North Carolina Foundation to “further their work.” York met with advocates and transgender North Carolinians to learn more about how the bill has impacted them. York is …

Brian Tashman reports at Right Wing Watch: Pat Robertson once again expressed outrage over the NFL’s strong opposition to an anti-LGBT bill in Georgia today, telling “700 Club” viewers that the league’s stance has made him “sick at my stomach.” Yesterday, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed the bill, which would have created broad protections for businesses that openly discriminate against …

BOOM. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: If Georgia chooses to turn the “religious liberty” bill into law, be prepared: Atlanta may not get a Super Bowl. That was the suggestion from the NFL on Friday when the league released a statement in response to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s question about whether the league had any position on Georgia House Bill 757. The …

EPSN reports: An Atlanta Falcons coach asked former Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple whether he is gay during a meeting last week at the NFL combine. Apple described the meeting Friday during an interview with Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, although he did not identify the coach. “The Falcons coach, one of the coaches, was like, ‘So do you like men?'” Apple …

Social media tonight erupted with lavish praise from the left and the right after Lady Gaga’s live performance of the national anthem at Super Bowl 50. Today reports: At Super Bowl 50, Lady Gaga hit all the right notes. The singer kicked off football’s biggest night of the year with a stirring, 2-minute, 28-second rendition of the American National Anthem …

Big news in sportsball last night. Via the Washington Post: The NFL made its long-awaited return to Los Angeles Tuesday after an absence of more than two decades. Owners of the teams voted to allow the Rams to move from St. Louis to Inglewood, Calif., and gave the Chargers the option to join them there by relocating from San Diego. …

A few days ago Marco Rubio tried to out-Jesus everybody with a campaign ad trumpeting his faith. Today he reminds everybody that he played college football and married a Miami Dolphins cheerleader. Via Politico: The Florida senator is out on Friday with a new ad, which will air during the NFL playoff weekend, featuring Rubio catching footballs and taking questions. …

The Human Rights Campaign has requested an “emergency meeting” with the NFL. From the letter sent to Commissioner Roger Goodell from HRC head Chad Griffin: With Houston slated to host Super Bowl LI in 2017, we are writing to request an emergency meeting about the urgent need for a nondiscrimination ordinance in this city that will ensure the thousands of …

The NFL was quick today to head off any demands that Super Bowl 2017 be moved from Houston in the wake of yesterday’s victory by anti-gay hate groups. Their statement: “This will not affect our plans for Super Bowl LI in 2017. We will work closely with the Houston Super Bowl Host Committee to make sure all fans feel welcomed …

From the New York Daily News: The Giants came out strong in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender athletes on Sunday with a star-studded video to help promote the You Can Play Project – an organization dedicated to the rights of LGBT coaches and athletes in sports. The video features six prominent Giants, including Victor Cruz and Prince Amukamara, …

USA Today reports: When he was a student, Princeton coach Bob Surace wrote a thesis paper on baseball great Jackie Robinson breaking down racial barriers through the sports world. He wrote about the courage and strength Robinson exuded on the quest for equality. On Tuesday, Surace got to be a part of a story he believes to offer the same …

Last night Michael Sam announced on Twitter that he is leaving the Canadian Football League to focus on his mental health. Via Entertainment Tonight: “The last 12 months have been very difficult for me, to the point where I became concerned with my mental health,” he wrote in a series of tweets. “Because of this I am going to step …

(Tipped by JMG reader Philip)

Via The Score: The CFL’s Montreal Alouettes have signed former NFL defensive end Michael Sam to a two-year contract. Sam, who made headlines as the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, never played a regular-season snap in the league. Sam was released by the St. Louis Rams at final cuts prior to the 2014 season and later spent …

Via Yahoo Sports: The NFL took deflate-gate very seriously, hammering the New England Patriots with unheard of punishment in the matter of deflated footballs. The league announced that quarterback Tom Brady was suspended four games, the team was fined $1 million and will lose its 2016 first-round draft pick and a fourth-round pick in 2017. The league has been considering …

Via the Washington Post: This fall, GQ magazine found room for an athlete on its annual list of celebrities who have left a mark on pop culture. This isn’t any athlete, though. It’s Michael Sam, the first openly gay player taken in the NFL draft last spring. Sam joins “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt, comedian Dave Chappelle, actors …

“I and others in my organization received death threats over the phone Saturday and early Sunday. We took them very seriously and I did not want to risk anyone’s life to send a message. Whether gay radical activists or others made these threats is not clear yet. What is clear is that there are those who oppose us so vehemently …

Via Yahoo Sports: The St. Louis Rams named the 10 players they signed to their practice squad. Michael Sam was not one of them. The team made Sam one of its final cuts on Saturday and met with him the following day, but it apparently doesn’t have interest at this time in signing Sam. Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said …