Donahoe, top, and Jordan
The gay porn angle was the secondary focus on ESPN “Outside The Lines” look at the dismissal of Paul Donahoe and Kenny Jordan from the University of Nebraska wrestling team after they posed naked on Fratmen.tv. (Complete video segment below).
It wasn’t as if ESPN was trying to downplay any gay angle, but there really isn’t much of one beyond the type of website the two posed for; both say they are straight and neither feels the need to apologize for showing their wares to a paying audience. We’ll never know if they would have been treated differently had they done porn for a straight site.
ESPN’s focus was on whether Nebraska used a double standard for booting the two wrestlers, when compared to how other athletes at the school have been treated. At one point, Nebraska Athletic Director (and former football coach) Tom Osborne said that had Donahoe and Jordan not had past infractions, their porn appearances might not have led to their dismissal.
I find that hard to believe. This is the same Tom Osborne who kept football stars Lawrence Phillips and Christian Peter on his team when they had done far worse than masturbate on a porn site. Online reporting by ESPN’s Paula Lavigne found that 14 of the 44 Nebraska wrestlers the past few years have faced criminal charges. One wrestler even smashed a beer bottle over another’s head, causing a serious injury and a lawsuit, yet both stayed on the team. Incidentally, this happened at the wedding reception of head coach Mark Manning.
ESPN also documented poker parties that were held at the home of a Nebraska assistant coach. Donahoe and Jordan both said these were high-stakes games (Jordan says he once lost $700 on one hand), but the assistant said the money involved was small. Last week, in anticipation of the ESPN report, the university said an internal review of the wrestling program, including the poker parties, uncovered no NCAA violations.
ESPN makes clear that this is not a model wrestling program, but neither Donahoe nor Jordan were model athletes. Donahoe had been arrested for hosting a loud party and for carrying alcohol in an open container. His former girlfriend also called 911 following two fights she and Donahoe had. Jordan has been convicted twice for misdemeanor assault.
Donahoe was also briefly suspended from the team for selling an Ipod he got at a tournament, in violation of NCAA rules. Donahoe comes across as either a flake or someone in the early stages of Alzheimer’s when on-air he denies accusations about the wrestling program he made to ESPN only weeks before:
“I said that? I must have been on drugs or something. I don’t remember that. I must have been doing some kind of drugs.”
Both wrestlers are non-apologetic about posing for Fratmen, for which each was paid an estimated $2,000 plus expenses. They used fake names (Donahoe was “Nash,” Jordan was “Cal”) and were discovered by gay Nebraskans who frequented the site and recognized them (Donahoe sports a huge “N” tattoo on his thigh, visible on the Fratmen shots).
I loved Jordan’s comment that far from doing something wrong, what he did “put smiles on peoples’ faces,” the most indisputable thing I heard on the show. He said in an accompanying online clip (see below) that his friends and his older brother “just laughed about it.” Donahoe told about the supportive e-mails he received from the gay community via Facebook and My Space after the story first broke last August. Perhaps surprising was the result of an online ESPN poll (admittedly unscientific) that found 60% of respondents saying it was wrong to have kicked the wrestlers off the team for posing naked.
The double standard at work was even evident in what happened to both wrestlers after their dismissal. Nebraska initially gave Donahoe a list of only three wrestling programs he could transfer to without first having to sit out the 2008-2009 season. They relented, he said, after he threatened to expose shenanigans within the program. Whether it was that or the fact that he had won a 2007 national title for Nebraska and had been Manning’s favorite, Donahoe was ultimately allowed to transfer to Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. The school is a wrestling powerhouse and Donahoe finished the regular season unbeaten before losing in the finals of the national tournament at 125 pounds.
Jordan fared worse. Nebraska would not allow him to transfer to a Division I school, without sitting out a year of wrestling. He chose to attend Purdue in the Big Ten, which is Division I, and hopes to make the school’s team next season. Jordan was the only person on the show who came across sympathetically. He says he regrets having posed for Fratmen, not because he did anything wrong but because his life was thrown in turmoil because of it.
Neither Nebraska, its wrestling program, Donahoe nor Jordan came across with their reputations intact. The only clear winner was Fratmen. They got tons of publicity any business would kill for, worth far more than the $4,000 they shelled out for the services of Nash and Cal.
I would love to hear what others thought of the segment and the issues it raised.
Related: Our archive on the gay porn wrestlers.
The complete “Outside the Lines” report:
Donahoe and Jordan discuss how they came to do porn:
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 7:57 AM
I have some sympathy for these guys, but they certainly displayed some poor judgment over the years — not just over their porn appearances. It is totally unfair that they got different punishments for the same violation. Jordan should have been released so that he could wrestle this year.
Maybe it’s just my HDTV, but Donohoe’s pupils seem dilated in the March interview — especially considering that he had bright camera lights shining at him. I wonder if he was facetiously telling the truth that he “must have been on drugs or something.”
(Also, the actual ESPN broadcast included interviews with a reporter and a sport s administrator that gave some good context to this story. They’re missing from the videos above.)
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 10:35 AM
I thought Donahue came across as a monster douchebag. The Nebraska Athletic Department came across as totally corrupt. I felt sorry for these guys until I saw the program. Now, I just think they are privileged athletes that were in a program that continually allowed them to get away with bad behavior, and when they finally did something so public that it made it impossible to cover up, they University was forced to suspend them. In the meantime, Nebraska did some double-dealing with each of them because Donahue was a favorite. The whole thing reeks, and it says the NCAA should do some serious investigating of Nebraska athletics.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Jordan’s had more issues than Donahoe. He was academically ineligible, went to a Junior College, then came back. Jordan’s got more of a violent, checkered past than Donahoe. ESPN made it look like the two were similar, when in fact, Jordan, to me, came off more like a douchebag than Donahoe did (in large). Donahoe’s “forgetful” comments caused him to lose more face than he already has with some fans.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 2:27 PM
It is important to consider that these guys are YOUNG! Listen to their comments, they are young men who wanted a quick buck and made a decision that had reverberations they didn’t expect. At the end of the day I have respect for them, they stood up and said, YES I did it, they didn’t run like a bunch of punks.
In some cases, such as this, college and university administrators are just as scandalous in their actions. Don’t slight Donahue for his selective memory, you never know who may have had a conversation with him prior to the second interview.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 2:35 PM
Oh big freaking deal. People blew this out of proportion. The NCAA does a lot of things and make it tough on student athletes.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Did whashisname make his porn return as advertised?
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 3:17 PM
Not yet — they were waiting until after the show aired. As I’ve written before, Donahoe has flaked out on Fratmen, so it’s 50-50 whether he’ll wind up doing it.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 4:11 PM
The thing about Fratmen or is it Fratpad, is that their scenes aren’t wildly fake. I would link to a particular video I find funny, because they’re playing pranks on each other, but it’s on a porn site, so no go.
I would rather see Donahoe do porn than Kenny Jordan. Jordan looks like some savage psychopathic killer.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 5:23 PM
In the second part of the interview with Paul, when he “forgot” what he was going to say when he was tossing around the threats of exposing Nebraska Athletics….It seemed to me like he either got threatened or paid off. Most likely the latter, because Nebraska doesn’t strike me as having tough guys. lol. But I don’t think he was on drugs, or simply forgot, even for a second.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 6:23 PM
Gee, I posted my review and comments yesterday and now it is gone. I guess I must have said something wrong like I am a member of fratpad.com(?), that I tended to now believe former football coach/AD/former U.S. Representative Tom Osborne’s contention that this was the last straw for both(?), that I did not care for Donahoe’s smarmy attitude(?), that I would like to know about the supposed relationship and contacts between the assistant coach and Donahoe(?), that Kenny Jordan was most sympathetic and questioned why he got the raw end of the deal(s) and was forced to sit out one year while Donahoe did not(?), and that if Donahoe has additional material/information I hope a DA in Nebraska supeonas him and grants him immunity so we hear the veracity of his claims once and for all(?). I guess I do not rate and my comments were not considered important.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 8:23 PM
Hi Krishnan: You commented on another post related to this subject. Your comment is still there:
As a member of fratpad.com, I heard lots about this issue. I think it is fine that they posed and made good money for having great bodies. But I also buy Tom Osborne’s contention that this was the last straw for each, especially with Donahoe’s smarmy attitude and Jordan’s three times in jail. And if Donahoe has a continuing relationship with the assistant wrestling coach, I would like to know more about it. And if Donahoe has more information on the Nebraska program, he should be brought before a grand jury and given immunity and forced to sing! But I now feel sad for Kenny Jordan. He didn’t get the good deal that Donahoe did and Kenny was forced to sit out a year after transferring to Purdue. I just wonder why.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 9:58 PM
Wait, and all this time I’ve mentioned fratpad.com, you never once mentioned you were a member? Shameful.
I love their prank videos.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 10:44 PM
>I would rather see Donahoe do porn than Kenny Jordan. Jordan looks like some savage psychopathic killer.
He doesn’t seem like a savage psychopathic killer to me, but I like his look. The fact that his nose looks like it’s been broken turns me on—not that I’d kick either of them out of bed in the unlikely event that they should appear there.
on Jun 15th, 2009 at 11:45 PM
I think it’s the nose that bothers me, Dante. lol
Otherwise Donahoe is what I find attractive. Not to mention his slightly girly voice.
on Jun 16th, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Krishnan nobody cares enough to delete your post bro. You’re a piece of dog crap just like myself and every other poster here.
on Jun 20th, 2009 at 6:26 AM
Isn’t “porn wrestlers” redundant?
on Jun 28th, 2009 at 12:24 PM
Still no sign of homie making another porn. False advertising!
on Jul 16th, 2009 at 2:41 AM
i love u, i like u. don’t forget send your commant in my e-mail.
on Jul 25th, 2009 at 11:09 AM
So two collegiate wrestlers in Nebraska get kicked off the team for doing gay porn, what hypocrisy. How about kicking off collegiate and professional athletes for drug abuse, doing straight porn, or being caught driving while intoxicated. The list of wrongdoings goes on for some athletes but they get away with it. These two guys got caught and got their asses burned by the same authorities that allow other wrongdoing to persist. A combination of hypocrisy and double standards thats for damned sure.
on Aug 13th, 2009 at 1:03 PM
I agree with RPreskop what about the other athletes that commit NCAA violations for drugs, etc they didnt get kicked out.
on Aug 28th, 2009 at 12:38 PM
Ah, lovely Nebraska, where the term Boys Town first originated!
on Sep 5th, 2009 at 9:15 PM
How hard would it have been for the word “homophobia” to find its way into this story?