The NFL's 'Bastard' Problem
It's tempting to make this a two-word column and simply write – THE NFL'S BASTARD PROBLEM: ROGER GOODELL, but that's not the type of illegitimacy to which I'm referring.
The NFL has a problem with illegitimate children and they're pretending it doesn't exist. For example, in the latest inquisition regarding Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson, we were told that the issue is domestic abuse in the form of child abuse. So the debate must center on questions like: "Is spanking a child abuse?" "Should he have used an open hand and not a switch?" "Is there a minimum age for corporeal punishment?" "Should the NFL act prior to his day in court?"
But no one is talking about the fact that Adrian Peterson has 6 or 7 kids with multiple women who are not his wife. I say 6 or 7 because his mother, who says that Adrian is a "good Christian boy," tells us that her son has 6 kids, while a stripper from Houston and one of Adrian's "Baby-Mamas" reported that Adrian has 7 kids and as far as she knows, treats them all well because he pays child support.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
In a now infamous video (starting at 46 seconds) from the NFL's reality show, Hard Knocks , Jet's cornerback Antonio Cromartie struggles to remember his kids names, "I have Alonzo who is 5, I have Keris who is 3, I have Myjunia which is 3, I have a - my daughter who just turned 3 as of yesterday, I have another son named Tyler, he turns 3 in December. I've got another daughter that was born October 16th named London. Another daughter that was born named Lelani, who is 2-years-old. And ah, I have my newborn with my wife, her name is Jersey."
I guess 2007 was a busy year for Cromartie because, assuming his count is right, he had four 3-year-olds by 2010. In an article entitled, "How Jets' Cromartie Fathered Nine Kids With Eight Women Over Six States," Susan Edelman writing for the New York Post gave an updated roll call at 12 children with eight different women. Apparently there are some receivers who the talented cornerback cannot shut down!
In March of 2010, Cromartie would have to hit up the Jets to get a $500,000 advance just to catch up with child support payments.
And this is not an anomaly, nor is it restricted to just the NFL. Boxers, basketball players, entertainers, even coaches make up the list of the top Mack Daddy's of all time. From Shawn Kemp and Marshall Faulk to Ali, Tyson, Holyfield and Basketball Coach Scott Skiles, illegitimacy is at plague levels in professional sports.
So what does ESPN make an issue? - The legitimate children of the devout Catholic, Phillip Rivers.
You heard that right. In a sea of illegitimacy, ESPN cherry picks the most inappropriate, hypocritical question ever posed when it took an obscure comment from a lesser blog - TheBigLead.com and asked the Chargers Quarterback, "Six kids? Regardless of your profession, it's impossible to be a good parent to six kids. Not enough hours in the day."
Rivers, the class act that he is, brushed the comment aside and said, "It's a two-year rotation: Once the diapers come off of one, we usually have a newborn. And we have another one on the way, due in October. I help when I can, but my wife, Tiffany, is the key. My big, growing family keeps everything balanced and grounded. My oldest is 11 now, and the kids are getting into football. They're Daddy's biggest fans, and they don't get on you as bad as most fans. If you throw an interception, they still love you."
So, Philip Rivers who married his Jr. High sweetheart, converted to Catholicism, is raising seven children, skipped a Pro-Bowl to attend his daughter's birth, and has a foundation that cares for orphaned and abandoned children, is by implication, "not a good parent" in the eyes of ESPN; but the myriad of pimpalicious playas are off limits?
If it looks like racism, it is; if it sounds like bigotry it is. This is what is meant by "the soft bigotry of low expectations."
Roger Goodell is under attack from feminists groups so he hires a gaggle of them to take the pressure off and save his job. He is not a commissioner, he's a politician. Sports agents, coaches, players, and fans have known for years that there is a "bastard" problem in professional sports but there is no one involved with the game who will have the guts to point it out.
One more thing: I don't like to refer to children as "bastards." I believe what has been said: "There is no such thing as an illegitimate child, only illegitimate parents." The "Mack Daddy's" and the "Baby Mama's" are the illegitimate children and those that know better, who should be encouraging and nurturing them to be responsible, are the bastards.
The NFL who hounded a Christian QB out of the league for praying, fined a Muslim for the same and then said "Sorry, our bad," proselytizes to the point of tampering for same-sex anarchy, tells Robert Griffin III to turn his Jesus t-shirt around but makes sure they'll have a film crew rolling when the 2nd to last pick in the draft smashes cake in his boyfriend's face and then licks it off, ought to be the ones under scrutiny.
The anti-God liberals in sports journalism and the NFL front office have defiled what most of us found to be a safe haven and they should be purged. I think it's time to revisit the NFL's anti-trust status, after all, they've become overtly political and I don't think money is an issue any longer.
Commissioner Goodell - it's time for you to go; because America loves the game!
