Whatever Happened To Ex-49ers PR Man and "Videogate" Guy Kirk Reynolds?

What happened to Videogate's main fall guy Ex-49ers PR Director Kirk Reynolds?

He's resurfaced with NBX.com a kind of sports fantasy organization. I happened to spot this as I was responding to a comment link left by a guy named "Sweet Lou" with the same firm. He was commenting on Tom Walsh of the Raiders.

Check out the link to his contact page at NBX.com by clicking on the title of this post.

Who's Kirk Reynolds? Chris Bull wrote this account for ESPN, which is also linked to via the title of this post.

Diversity champion done in by insensitive mistake
By Chris Bull
Special to ESPN.com


You know Kirk Reynolds, right?

He's the former San Francisco 49ers public relations director who produced the bizarre video the San Francisco Chronicle dubbed "racist and sexist."

He's the bigot who indulged racially insensitive jokes, cavorted with topless blonds at a strip club, and mocked same-sex marriage – all recorded for posterity.

He's the jerk who the lost a dream job because of an episode "absolutely contradictory to the ideals and values of the San Francisco 49ers," as team lawyer Ed Goines put it.

At least that is how the brainy, brawny, balding Reynolds is being represented in much of the Bay Area after an adversary with ties to the storied franchise made a copy of the tape available to the Chronicle.


There is one problem with this picture: It is wrong.

This not the Kirk Reynolds that I know – or that the dozens of media types he's dealt with in his eight years with the organization have known. The Kirk Reynolds I know put his neck on the line for the very ideals of equality and diversity he now stands accused of sabotaging.

This is a cautionary tale of how style and substance get confused in the media whirlwind and how a good man can be brought down in the process.

In many ways, the story begins back in November 2002, when star 49ers running back Garrison Hearst declared, "I don't want any faggots on my team." The sentiment was sadly commonplace. For years, players across the league had been making similar remarks, both publicly and privately.

But the Bay Area boasts an admirable commitment to a level playing field, and Hearst's comments were the political equivalent of a flagrant foul, especially with owners Denise DeBartolo York and John York's courting city support for a new stadium at Candlestick Point. They determined to show a better face off the field – even as the once-great team struggled on it.

Last February, ESPN The Magazine published my lengthy profile of Lindsy McLean ("The Healer," Feb. 16, 2004), the legendary 49ers head athletic trainer. McLean had overseen Hearst's heroic comeback from a devastating ankle injury.

McLean also happens to be gay.

Apparently Hearst, well aware of his trainer's sexual orientation, would not play with a "faggot" but he was more than happy to have his career extended by one.

Having hung up his tape after nearly three decades in the trenches, McLean spoke for the first time about the sexual harassment he endured since the early 1980s, when his homosexuality became an open clubhouse secret. McLean, who has since become a friend, declined to identify his tormenters out of respect for trainer-player confidentiality. (They did not include Hearst, who treated McLean with utmost respect.)

Throughout the three-month interviewing and writing process for the article, Reynolds gently encouraged McLean – understandably nervous about the revelations – to cooperate. He coaxed Hearst to speak about the contradiction between his admiration for McLean and his feelings about homosexuals. The notoriously private Bill Walsh opened up for the first time about the death of his son, who succumbed to AIDS in 2002.

To be sure, it was Reynolds' job to cast the organization in an accepting light. Like every reporter, I have a complicated relationship with PR staffs. They bring access. But they also jealously guard material that strays too far from the company line, the stuff of which great stories are made.

McLean had told me about harrowing incidents, starting in the early '90s, when a 350-pound lineman would chase him around, grab him from behind, push him against a wall and simulate rape. "Get over here, bitch," he'd demand. "I know what you want." The lineman reprised his act whenever he could; even after he was traded to another team, he'd sneak up on McLean in the locker room or alongside the team bus.

Like every dimly understood social transgression, the episode, drenched in a toxic combination of misogyny and homophobia, became shrouded in secrecy and shame. Those who witnessed it, puzzled and aghast, preferred to pretend it had never happened or to write it off as the kind of "boys will be boys" behavior that occurs only in all-male environments.

McLean, bound by his oath, declined to name the perpetrator. Reynolds, however, was so incensed by what he had witnessed outside the team bus that he offered to give the guy up. (After much discussion, ESPN decided not to identify the player. The Boston Globe later named him.)

I recall discussing Reynolds' overture with my editor, Jon Scher. In the world of public relations, we agreed, it was extraordinary. In professional sports, it violated an unspoken code of silence surrounding the misbehavior of star athletes. How much easier would it have been to leave the onus on the victim than risk the repercussions of fingering a powerful and popular athlete?

Perhaps Reynolds made the offer because no one had stood up for McLean when he needed it most. "I saw [the athlete] chase Lindsy around the bus," Reynolds told me at the time. "It was so strange and so uncomfortable, I didn't know how to react. We all stood there watching. I think [the player] should be held accountable for what he did."

It is one thing to expose a moral wrong; another to work to right the wrong. The next year – right after Reynolds showed the team and coaches his homemade video – Reynolds, Goines and John York, inspired by the Hearst incident and their beloved trainer's ordeal, put together a mandatory diversity training program. Players who had long resisted the idea raved about how it had brought the team closer together. They now understood that by bandying around words like "queer" and "fag," they might unintentionally be offending a guy with a gay relative or friend, a guy they depended upon in the trenches.

"Lindsy helped us understand that it wasn't a healthy environment," Reynolds told me by phone from his East Bay home, where he is fielding calls and job hunting. "After the training, we broke players into teams of five, and they were nearly unanimous about how helpful it had been. After all we had been through, it was truly gratifying to feel like we had made a difference, even in this small way. This is not an easy audience to reach."

The Niners' program is considered a model. But now it has been forgotten, overshadowed by "the tape." I've watched excerpts; I won't defend it, and I can see why some took offense. But I will say the skits exemplify a kind of crude, insider humor that my teammates on my mostly gay softball team would consider tame.

"My judgment was just awful," Reynolds explains. "After I played the tape, the guys were laughing, I stood up and said something along the lines of, 'I hope I didn't offend anyone.' Ironically, I was really thinking that maybe the religious guys in the room would be offended by the nudity. But the fact that I had to make that statement at all should have been a red flag for sure."

So go ahead and find Reynolds guilty of a boneheaded indiscretion, of violating public relations rule No. 1: Never put anything on paper or tape that you wouldn't want repeated publicly.

But Reynolds is innocent of the far more serious charge – intolerance. He made a mistake, but like all such mistakes – including Hearst's "faggot" comment – it created a teachable moment. In a time when pro athletes are managed by agents and handlers to avoid saying anything of substance, such moments have become all too rare.

"What's on that tape is not the true me," Reynolds says. "The true me is the guy who supported Lindsy. The true me is the guy who promotes diversity training in our organization and in the league. Before this is over, I want to get that back."

So let's not lose sight of what really matters – making the NFL a more comfortable, accepting place for gay athletes and employees. Thanks in part to Kirk Reynolds, now paying the price for his good deeds, we are one step closer to that elusive goal.

Chris Bull is editor of PlanetOut.com.

Amanda Congdon Watch - She's With Jude Law (Sort Of)

According to her blog at Amanda Unboomed, she's signed with Endeavor and will be annoucing her new gig soon.

Endeavor is a talent agency located in Beverly Hills and represents Jude Law, amoung other notables.

Clinton Portis Out But Shawn Springs Lost For Six Weeks - Washington Post

According to the Washington Post, it seems like the Redskins are dropping like flies before the season starts, losing Clinton Portis and his nutso costumes and Cornerback Shawn Springs, who will be out for six weeks. Plus, they just traded wide receiver Taylor Jacobs to the San Francisco 49ers. With all of this, the Redskins are in need of players.

This will test just how good the coaching staff is at compensating for loss. Stay tuned.

George Will Officially Declares War On Iraq War

In his recent column which you can read with a click here on the title of this post, Washington Post Senior Columnist George Will declared war on the Bush Administration's rhetoric behind the idea that sustaining the Iraq War is a fight against terrorism and terrorists.

When a good Neo-Con like Will goes against the Bush Administration, you know they're in political trouble. The problem is so are the thousands of men and women fighting over there, and their lives hang in the balance.

It's time to get them out.

When Robert Reich said "This President just doesn't get it" on "This Week," Will not only did not disagree with him, but added this...

Oakland Raiders Should Fire Tom Walsh - Offense Is Terrible

When Art Shell was named the Raiders new (returning) Head Coach, there was speculation regarding who he would select as his offensive coordinator. Some journalists pointed to a person "lurking around" Raiders Headquaters named Tom Walsh, and whom has not coached NFL football since 1994.

Shell hired Tom Walsh (pictured), who ran a bed and breakfast and was mayor of the Iowa town it was in.

Great.

It's this long time away from the pro game that made Tom Walsh-Not-Bill a big question mark for the Raiders. I immediately wondered if Walsh was brought in because he would faithfully install the old Raiders offense of the 70s and without question -- or the desire to place in new ideas all his own. Only time would tell.

Well, time's talking and what it's saying isn't good at all. It's saying that Tom Walsh's system -- even in its watered down pre-season fashion -- is a failure and the weakest link of the team.

Why?

Well, take a look at this video summary of the Oakland Raiders this year, and pay attention to the passing game:



Watch how the Raiders offensive line pass blocks in plays that don't have play action -- where run-like blocking is used. The Raiders linemen retreat, read, then hit. That's not the style that's considered "in vogue" in today's NFL. The league's full of o-line blocking techniques where the line actually fires out as if the play were a run, when it's a five-step or even seven-step pass. Fomer Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons line coach Alex Gibb is best known for this style of blocking. A variation of it was used as far back as with Don Coryell when he coached the San Diego Chargers. And it's a basic part of Bill Walsh's offense.

The point of this style is to create separation between the quarterback and the offensive line and thus keeps the defenders off the QB. The idea is simply that the defenders don't get that running start they're used to.

Well, not so with the 2006 Oakland Raiders.

Watch the video and you will see example after example of Raiders offensive linemen retreating and having defensive line people crash into them -- and collapse the pass pocket, resulting in hurries, sacks, and interceptions. It's the reason why Raiders QB Aaron Brooks completed 2 of 9 passes and Raiders Second QB Andrew Walter was intercepted twice.

Also watch the video and you'll see the Raiders force-feed a steady diet of deep passes to the Vikings, with only the occasional pass to the running back in the flat, and even then after the wide receivers have been scanned by the quaterback. All the Viking have to do is play their zone six-yards deeper than normal -- just as opponents did against the Raiders and the LA Rams in the 70s.

It's these aspects of the Raiders offense that need to change, and before the season starts. I will go a step beyond that and assert that the Raiders need to fire Tom Walsh and hire someone like Hue Jackson, whom I've written about.

My call for Tom Walsh to be fired is not popular with some Raiders fans , (well, not all of them) but as the season wears on, I'll have a lot of voices joining me, including that of Randy Moss, himself. In fact, Adam Schefter of the NFL Network has already commented on what others in the league are saying about Walsh.

Just watch and listen.

"Macaca" - Senator George Allen Brings A Shameful New Word To American Culture

With the mere mention of one word, "Macaca" Senator George Allen introduced a new and terrible word into American Culture -- and a new personality in S.R Sidarth, the man he insulted (pictured) -- and as much as Mel Gibson will be associated with anti-semitism, Senator Allen will be joined at the hip with this new term. It's a terrible contribution to American Culture by one who should know better. Given the video, and the ease with which Senator Allen made the remark, and the fact that he's a politician, it's fair to ask if Senator Allen had a few cocktails before he got up and ran off at the mouth.

It certainly seems so.

Senator Allen issued this statement to CNN:

"I'm concerned that my comments at Breaks Interstate Park on August 11th have been greatly misunderstood by members of the media.

"In singling out the Webb campaign's cameraman, I was trying to make the point that Jim Webb had never been to that part of Virginia -- and I encouraged him to bring the tape back to Jim and welcome him to the real world of Virginia and America, outside the Beltway, where he has rarely visited. I also made up a nickname for the cameraman, which was in no way intended to be racially derogatory. Any insinuations to the contrary are completely false.


"Yesterday, I apologized to anyone who may have offended by the misinterpretation of my remarks. That was certainly not my intent. On every stop on my Listening Tour -- I have talked about one of my missions for this country -- to make it a land of opportunity for all. I have worked very hard in the Senate to reach out to all Americans -- regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity or gender. And I look forward to continuing to advocate this important mission for America's future. I never want to embarrass or demean anyone and I apologize if my comments offended this young man. Even though he has signed onto my opponent’s campaign, I look forward to seeing him on the trail ahead.

What Senator Allen doens't explain is just how he came to use the term Macaca. I'll bet he got it from someone else at a party, and I will bet that someone was using the term in a racist way. The question of what Senator Allen knew about this term and when he knew it isn't going away anytime soon...

Well, just as I wrote that, I went over to the Daily Kos and learned that George Allen's own Mom may have used the term.

Here's a taste of the over 300 comments on this matter over there:

"There's some good authority around that American good ole' boys of a certain class, such as one indubitably can find in Virginia, have been using the term privately for several centuries. Do not fall for the mush-mouth act (or assume it had to be the exotic mother). Allen took a chance in order to send a signal, thinking the plusses beat the minusses and that crypto-racism is the new order of the day. We shall see."

If Allen was doing it to "shore up his base" then why doens't that work for Mel Gibson?

Just a question.

Senator George Allen's Case Of "Mel Gibson" - Video and Washington Post

Senator George Allen may have hurt his chances for the post of President of The United States, when he decided to pick out the only person of color at one of his rallies and insult the guy, using terms others say are racial slurs. I write that because I've not heard of the term he used before.

The man at the party who was filming Allen is of Indian decent and an American. Allen pointed to this person and called him a "Meccau" and said "Welcome to America" -- and then says, "Well friends, we're in a war on terror."

What bothers me is that I know what happened: Allen got around a group of older Southern White people and thought it was ok to let his hair down. The result: another Mel Gibson style meltdown done without the aide of drink.

Have a look for yourself:



This is CNN's report on the George Allen problem:

Carolina Panthers v. Buffalo Bills Game Highlights - Video

The Carolina Panthers won this preseason game 14-13

Clinton Portis Out For Season - Questions Logic Of Preseason - Miami Herald

NFL ROUNDUP

Portis out rest of preseason
From Miami Herald Wire Services

Washington running back Clinton Portis is out for the remainder of the preseason and his status for the Redskins' opener was uncertain Monday, one day after he partially dislocated his shoulder in an exhibition game.

Portis flew to Alabama for another MRI exam and further examination of his right shoulder.



Coach Joe Gibbs said Portis' shoulder was sore, and that the back, who ran for a club-record 1,516 yards last season, would begin rehabilitation once the soreness has abated. The coach essentially ruled out the possibility of Portis playing again in the preseason and instead focused on the Sept. 11 game against Minnesota.

Gibbs also defended the use of Portis and his starters against the Bengals.

After the game and again Monday, Portis questioned why he should have been playing in the first preseason game. The starting offense was on the field for 13 plays.

''If you back off that, you hurt the preparation for your team,'' Gibbs said. ``It's the toughest thing in football. It's a balancing act.''

Portis was hurt when he launched himself into an upper body tackle of Keiwan Ratliff, who had run 52 yards down the sideline after picking off a pass from Mark Brunell.

After the game, Portis criticized the NFL's preseason. Portis said that four exhibition games were too many and that if there's one good thing to come out of his injury, it's that it ought to keep him sidelined until the regular season.

San Diego Chargers Phil Rivers Passes Against Green Bay Packers

Phil Rivers started at QB for San Diego in his first game as starter last weekend. This video is a highlight clip of his passes -- but notice the timing of the passes and the offensive line blocking. Rivers gets the pass away and there's always a good space between he and the pass rushers -- a nice pocket that does not collapse due to timing problems.

That's not something one can say for the Oakland Raiders.

Matt Leinart Signed For Six-Years And $50.8 million - ESPN

ESPN's Len Pasquarelli says the problem was the incentives in the original deal. It's important to look at the fine points before signing.

Quarterback Matt Leinart, the former Southern California star and the 10th overall selection in the 2006 draft, on Monday night reached an agreement with the Arizona Cardinals on a six-year contract that ESPN.com has learned includes a maximum value of $50.8 million.

The basic six-year deal averages about $6.75 million per season and includes $14 million in guarantees. The value of the contract, negotiated by agents Tom Condon and Ken Kremer of CAA, will increase if Leinart reaches predetermined playing time levels that will then trigger so-called escalators in the latter years of the deal.

In fact, it was a battle over escalators that stalled the progress in negotiations, even as late as Monday afternoon. Only a few hours before the agreement, both sides appeared solid in their respective stances, and it appeared the talks might break off. Clearly, there was plenty of high-stakes bargaining Monday evening.

In the end, Cardinals officials agreed to an escalator package similar to the one featured in the contract of Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich, a first-round choice in the 2003 draft. That contract, also negotiated by Condon and Kremer, stipulates that the escalators were triggered if Leftwich participated in 55 percent of the Jaguars' offensive snaps for two seasons, or 70 percent of the snaps in one season.

Under the Arizona proposal sent to Condon on Sunday, Leinart could have played every snap in his first three seasons, been injured in his fourth year and unable to play, and would not have realized any of the escalators in the deal. That proposal would have made the escalator thresholds the most difficult to reach of any quarterback chosen in the top 10 since 1993.

Escalators are critical in any first-round contract, but particularly for quarterbacks, because they reward the player for becoming a starter.

The deal on Monday evening came after nearly a full a week of inertia in which the two sides did not engage in substantive negotiations. Leinart's representatives had agreed nearly a week ago to accept the six-year contract, the maximum term allowed for a player chosen in the top half of the first round, even though they preferred a five-year deal.

It is believed that the Cardinals made about three to four different proposals to Leinart before altering their stance with a Sunday offer that got the two sides talking again.

The 2004 Heisman Trophy winner, Leinart, who posted a brilliant 37-2 record as the USC starter, is now expected to battle two-year veteran John Navarre for the backup job behind starter Kurt Warner. Navarre threw a pair of interceptions in Saturday's preseason opener. The consensus is that the Cardinals chose Leinart to groom him as the team's quarterback of the future.

During his celebrated college career, Leinart completed 807 of 1,245 passes for 10,693 yards, with 99 touchdown passes and 23 interceptions.

It is expected that Leinart will report to camp as quickly as possible. He had been in the Phoenix area two weeks ago, just before the Cardinals reported for camp, and was throwing with his new teammates. But when the talks broke down, and camp opened without him, Leinart returned to Los Angeles.

Oakland Raiders Offense Looks Terrible; Raiders Top Vikings 16-13

It's time to question just what offensive coordinator Tom Walsh is doing with this offense, and before it's too late.

NFL.com wire reports

MINNEAPOLIS (Aug. 14, 2006) -- Randy Moss wanted so badly to make a triumphant return to Minnesota.

He wanted to put on a show for the fans who supported him so steadfastly during his seven years here, and greeted him so warmly Monday in his first game at the Metrodome since the Vikings traded him to Oakland before last season.

Instead, Moss endured a frustrating night and voiced his displeasure with both coach Art Shell for the way he benched the receiver and the Vikings organization that shipped him away.

Moss had one catch for 16 yards and Aaron Brooks looked ragged again in the Raiders' 16-13 preseason victory.

"I just wanted to come in and see the fans and give them something really to scream about because I've had my fun here in this Metrodome and they've had theirs, too," Moss said. "That's one thing I really just wanted to come back and just give back to the fans. The organization? To hell with them."

Moss, who lit up the Metrodome in the first seven years of his career, started the night with a feet-stomping tantrum after Brooks didn't see him wide open in the end zone. He said he was angry because Brooks got flushed to the right while Moss was on the left and didn't fault the quarterback for not getting him the ball.

After making his only catch against second-team cornerback Dovonte Edwards in the second quarter, Moss was pulled. Moss stormed off the field and threw his helmet in disgust, stewing on the bench for the rest of the game.

"I was just more ticked because I've never in my career been taken out of a game, preseason, during a drive," Moss said with a puzzled tone. "It's funny to me. I don't call the shots. I guess I just go back to the drawing board."

That's a good plan for the entire Raiders offense.

Brooks finished 1-for-6 for 16 yards and was sacked twice by the new-look defense, which held the Raiders to no first downs and just 15 yards in one quarter of work.

Brad Childress made his debut as Vikings coach, and the West Coast offense he brought from Philadelphia is the antithesis of what Minnesota fans saw when Moss was in purple. Those teams lived off the big play, while the new Vikings will rely on short passes and a ball-control running game.

Brad Johnson was 5-of-6 for 32 yards for the Vikings, who scored their only TD in the first quarter on new fullback Tony Richardson's 3-yard run. Ryan Longwell added two field goals, but missed a 55-yarder that would have tied it in the fourth period.

Fourth-string quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan drove the Vikings to the Oakland 22 in the closing seconds and Childress elected to go for the win. Hiram Eugene intercepted O'Sullivan's desperation heave into the end zone to clinch Oakland's victory.

"I've gotten nervous before every game I've ever coached, and this was no different," said Childress, who has never been a head coach at any level. "It's nice to look out at that panorama, but you have to get right back on task."

The night was all about Moss, who made the Vikings one of the most dangerous offensive teams from the minute he arrived in 1998. Those Vikings were defined by the deep pass to Moss, which helped them reach an unprecedented level of popularity in the state.

His tenure was hardly perfect. He left the field with 2 seconds left in a regular-season loss to Washington two years ago; got in a minor scrape with a traffic enforcement officer in 2002; and verbally abused corporate sponsors on a team bus in 2001.

Not to mention his infamous "I play when I want to play" comment.

Nevertheless, plenty of fans wore his purple No. 84 jersey on Monday night, and still more donned his black No. 18.

"It makes me feel good to know that I'm still loved here, no matter what the bad blood that kind of built when I left," Moss said. "I think that they, the people in the stands with the 84s on and whatnot, I think they understand now that I'm a Raider and there's no coming back, and I don't really want to come back."

New Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin brought his version of the cover-2 defense from Tampa Bay, a scheme specifically geared toward stopping Moss' specialty, the big play.

Brooks, still looking uncomfortable in silver and black, took one shot downfield to Moss in the first quarter, but Moss caught the ball out of bounds.

Signed as a free agent from New Orleans, Brooks is just 2-for-9 for 28 yards, one TD and one interception in Oakland's first two preseason games.

"Obviously we'd like to have some more productivity out on the field, but it's still preseason, and it's a new system for pretty much all of us," Brooks said. "It's going to take time. I have patience."

Sebastian Janikowski's three field goals, including a 55-yarder in the first quarter, helped the Raiders overcome nine penalties.

The Raiders finally got into the end zone midway through the second quarter in Moss-like fashion. Andrew Walter hooked up with Johnnie Morant on a 67-yard touchdown pass for a 13-7 lead. Walter (10-for-19 for 148 yards and two interceptions) hit Morant in stride with a perfect pass down the left sideline.

Notes: Morant had five catches for 108 yards and the touchdown. ... Raiders WR Jerry Porter, who missed the opener with a calf injury, came out for warmups, but didn't feel ready to go.