# Philadelphia Eagle WR Terrell Owens, this Pit's for you. "Outing" your former QB? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 11, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370 "2004-08-11T16:12:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/21 "2004-08-11T21:11:44Z")
> [@lno](#): > > “I’d follow the crowd. I wouldn’t be one to pick a fight, but when someone else did something, I’d be right there in the mob. However, I wouldn’t want to lynch a guy if he’s making me look good on the field; I’d wait until one of us left the team to do that.” That sounds like pretty much what he meant. At least he is honest about the kind of spineless asshole he is. ---
**Author:** ![High\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8797f3/32.png) [@High\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/High_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/22 "2004-08-11T21:26:30Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > And to “out” your former quarterback? Have we really gotten to the point in the NFL where calling someone gay is crippling to their reputation? It seems you have at least a casual interest in, and knowledge of, professional football. Thusly I am amazed you don’t know the answer to this question: god yes! And we didn’t just get there…it’s been this way since the term football was heard for the first time—back in like 1872 or something. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/23 "2004-08-11T21:42:46Z")
> [@High Cheese](#): > > It seems you have at least a casual interest in, and knowledge of, professional football. Thusly I am amazed you don’t know the answer to this question: god yes! And we didn’t just get there…it’s been this way since the term football was heard for the first time—back in like 1872 or something. I admit my choice of words was poor. The message I wanted to put across is, I haven’t personally been hurt by someone calling me a “fag” since I was 12. It was around that time that I realized that I wasn’t gay, and didn’t really need to worry about what others thought of me. So you expect this kind of behavior from 12 year-olds. NOT from professional football players making millions of dollars. Of course, T.O.'s formal education probably ended around that time, when coaches began to notice he could catch a pigskin. I’m too lazy to look it up – does anyone know if this jerkoff’s ever received a degree that wasn’t in Communications or Underwater Basket-Weaving? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/24 "2004-08-11T21:50:04Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > No “big league” team athlete to date has come out while still active as a player. It’s a vicious circle. No one wants to be first. In Australia, the first guy in one of the major sports to come out was Ian Roberts, of the National Rugby League. While there was much attention given to this “event,” there was remarkably little negative reaction, either within the sport itself or among the general public. A friend of mine played on the same team as Roberts in the early ‘90s, before he came out. My friend told me that Roberts’ homosexuality was something of an open secret among those who played football, and that no-one really cared about it. And this is a bunch of guys who are stereotypically masculine, and who think nothing of telling gay jokes or calling someone a “poofter” or a “fag” as a term of derision. Of course, Roberts was helped by the fact that he came out _after_ he had established himself as one of the best players in the country. Had he come out right at the beginning of his career, before he proved himself on the field, things might not have gone so well for him. And it says something about the fear associated with coming out that no other player in the National Rugby League (to my knowledge) has come out since. I believe that Roberts has confirmed that he knows of other gay men in the sport, but he refuses (for obvious reasons) to say who they are. If you’re interested, there’s an article [here](http://www.timbomb.net/ian/ralph.html) where Roberts talks about his experience of being gay and coming out in the sporting world. If the questions seem rather frat-boy-like, it’s because the article is from _Ralph_ magazine, which is a low-brow Australian guys’ mag, along the lines of _Maxim_ or _Stuff_. And you can find some pictures of Roberts, in his rugby outfits, and also in nothing much at all, here: www[dot]timbomb[dot]net/ian/pics/wallpaper1.jpg (no direct link, as it might not be work-safe for some people) ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/25 "2004-08-12T03:09:01Z")
I’m an Eagles fan and I don’t want him. Whatever good he can bring to the team will only be negated by his fat fucking mouth. The Philadelphia (eagles) has managed,up until now, to keep all their players modest and concentrated on the team, not the player. Even McNabb downplayed the whole attack by the Fat mouthed druggy on the radio. Usually people like T.O. get run out of town on a rail before to long… unless you’re Allen Iverson…I hate that fucker and I don’t even follow basketball. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/26 "2004-08-12T03:46:28Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > So you expect this kind of behavior from 12 year-olds. NOT from professional football players making millions of dollars. I don’t know. It never really surprises me that a lot of these guys have the apparent maturity level of junior high kids. I mean, surround guys with an environment of high testosterone and I think you’ll find a lot of those masculine tendencies come to the front. Dirty jokes and misogyny and whatnot. It’s an environment that harbors that sort of attitude. Football is also a profession in which employees have their egos coddled by their employers as well as those they choose to surroud themselves with. There are a lot of classy guys in the league like John Lynch and Emmit Smith, but not enough. Most seem to be egotistical and selfish. Guys like T.O. are the worst of the lot. He’s a sideshow and a distraction. But he’ll probably catch a lot of touchdowns this year. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/27 "2004-08-12T04:48:45Z")
The latter part of the OP mentioned never wishing death on someone. Well, I have. What I’ve NEVER done was wish injury on a player. Not even Chris Hovan. Until now. I’ve always disliked Turd Owens. Now I just simply hate him. Not because of any gay agenda or anything like that. Mainly because he’s talking shit about a guy NOT ON HIS TEAM!!! December 5th bitch. December 5th. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/28 "2004-08-12T05:03:00Z")
Looks like they’ve removed the evidence now, but when I first saw the story this morning, the tag was “Owens compares gays to rats.” Way to oversell the story, morons. What he said was crass and idiotic, but frankly, that would’ve been a lot worse. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/29 "2004-08-12T07:22:27Z")
I yearn for the day when being gay (or being thought to be gay) is not such a goddamn blight. Perhaps in lieu of that we could also bring back Ronnie Lott to reinforce the idea that some things aren’t the business of people who will clearly do just about anything for another five minutes in the spotlight. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/30 "2004-08-12T13:26:46Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > As much as I want to see the Eagles do well this year, I still hope that Owens will be injured and out for the season during the first game of preseason. There are a lot of other receivers that are just as good or better than Owens and without the attitude. There’s actually only one - Marvin Harrison. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/31 "2004-08-12T18:54:57Z")
Someone in the office just mentioned that Garcia is dating the 2003 playmate of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/32 "2004-08-12T20:50:18Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Someone in the office just mentioned that Garcia is dating the 2003 playmate of the year. What a fag! ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/33 "2004-08-12T20:51:12Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > There’s actually only one - Marvin Harrison. Well, how about “There are plenty of fine receivers who would be far more of an asset to the Eagles than Owens”? ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370/34 "2004-08-12T22:41:28Z")
I used to support Owens when he simply showboated, but was glad to see him leave after he started blaming everyone but himself for the 49ers issues. This latest thing is just him being even more of a shithead. But I still don’t wish injury on the guy, or anyone else for that matter. Someone else acting like an asshole doesn’t necessarily mean that it makes it okay for me to act like an asshole. He’s making his own bed, and he’ll lie in it someday even without ill wishes from me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philadelphia-eagle-wr-terrell-owens-this-pits-for-you-outing-your-former-qb/259370.md?page=1)