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Porter Fined
$10,000 for 'Fag' Comment
By
Jim Buzinski
Outsports.com
 The
cost of calling a fellow NFL player a "fag" is $10,000.
That was
the fine levied on Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey
Porter (left) for what the league called "vulgar,
inexcusable statements" against Cleveland Browns tight end
Kellen Winslow.
It is
believed to be the first time the league has fined a player
for making homophobic comments.
The
fracas started Dec. 7 after the Steelers beat the Browns,
27-7. Upset at what Porter thought was a Winslow cheap shot
against a Steelers teammate, the brash linebacker said:
"He's a fag. He
tried to dap me up before the game. He's soft though. I
don't pay attention to him. … [the hit on the teammate] was
late. That's what fags do. He's soft. He wanna be tough but
he's really soft. He tried to give me a handshake before the
game. He's not my friend, he don't know me. What you trying
to shake my hand for? He talk too much and he hadn't done
nothing. He threw a cheap shot. He's weak. He's for real
weak. He's soft. He might want to play receiver because he
don't want to play tight end. He's not gonna block nobody."
Earlier this week, Porter issued a
non-apology apology, saying, "I apologize to anybody I
offended on it. I didn't mean to offend nobody but Kellen
Winslow. Pretty much, that's it about that." In trying to
justify his use of language, Porter said it was a common
word in his upbringing. "I guess how we used that word
freely, me growing up using it, I didn't think nothing of it
like that," Porter said.
There have been other instances where NFL
players made anti-gay remarks, but those all occurred
outside a game environment. In 2003, Detroit Lions President
Matt Millen
called Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Johnny Morton a
"faggot" after a game but was not reprimanded. He also
"apologized if I offended anyone." The league told Billy
Witz of the Los Angeles Daily News at the time
that Millen apologized, was justly
criticized for his outburst and a fine would have served no
meaningful purpose. The NFL considered it an internal matter
for the Lions.
This is
Porter's second fine of the season. He was fined $15,000 for
remarks he made to an official during a game in Atlanta.
Related:
--Porter
issues non-apology apology
--List
of athlete anti-gay slurs.
Dec. 14, 2006
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