It was just announced that Kansas City Chiefs' Running Back Larry Johnson was suspended by the organization for using a gay-slur on his Twitter account @ToonIcon (which has been set to private) and then on Monday to reporters, according to TMZ.com. He can't participate in team activities while a team investigation into his use of a slur is ongoing according to the Associated Press.
Johnson issued this apology:
First of all, I want to apologize to the fans of the Kansas City Chiefs and the rest of the NFL, Commissioner Goodell, the Chiefs organization, Coach Todd Haley, his staff, and my teammates for the words I used yesterday"
"I regret my actions. The words were used by me in frustration, and they were not appropriate. I did not intend to offend anyone, but that is no excuse for what I said. "
"I also want to apologize to all the kids who view athletes as role models. I was not a good role model yesterday and hopefully I can become a better role model. We all make mistakes, and the challenge is to learn from them. I will do my best to learn from this one as I move toward becoming a better person, teammate, and member of the Kansas City chiefs team and community."
Larry Johnson, upset with the teams 1 win, 6 loss performance, his own, and dealing with his dislike for Head Coach Todd Haley, let loose with an ill-advised tweet on Sunday after they were pasted by the San Diego Chargers 37 to 7, then popped-off to reporters verbally on Monday.
According to the Kansas City Star, Johnson got a bit testy with the press:
Then Monday in the Chiefs locker room, Johnson used another slur after saying he wouldn’t speak to reporters.
Johnson, sitting down, told reporters that “I’m not talking till Thursday,” his usual day of speaking with the media.
Then Johnson turned away and whispered, “Get your f_____ ass out of here.”
On Twitter, Johnson wrote a storm of words that were listed in chronological order by Yahoo! Sports' Charles Robinson (the words in the quotes below that are not Johnson's are Robinson's and set the story):
• “my father got more creditentials than most of these pro coaches. … google my father!!!!!!!”
• “My father played for the coach from “rememeber the titans”. Our coach played golf. My father played for redskins briefley. Our coach. Nuthn”
Following those messages, an exchange appeared between Johnson’s account and another Twitter user, in which the other user made a reference to an incident in which Johnson pled guilty to disturbing the peace after allegedly spitting into the face of a female patron at a nightclub. A message on Johnson’s account referred to the other Twitter user’s profile picture with a homophobic slur, calling it a “[expletive] pic” and called the user a “Christopher street boy.” Christopher Street is a well-known New York City street which became famous as a symbol for the city’s gay-pride movement.
The message posted in Johnson’s account containing the homophobic slur read:
• “think bout a clever diss then that wit ur [expletive] pic. Christopher street boy. Is what us east coast cats call u.”
The final message of the night on Johnson’s account read:
• “Make me regret it. Lmao. U don’t stop my checks. Lmao. So “tweet” away.”
Well, it's clear the Chiefs, are stopping his checks for a while. The lesson here for any public official is to hold their temper and measure what they say or tweet. But the larger issue of Johnson's overall conduct comes up again, as reporters, tweets, and chats remind all of his various arrests and conflicts over the years.
By comparison to his past, this episode is smaller, but still important. Johnson must get his temper under control and assess his issues with gays and get over them.
Then there's the Todd Haley issue and in more detail his coaching style. I'm not a fan of Haley's approach, as much as I like some of his game plans. More on this later.
