I have another f-word in mind, as in "this is really f------ stupid."
As the NFL considers banning the use of the n-word among its players, some wonder whether the f-word, a slang term for a homosexual, will be far behind.
Terry Foster, 97.1 The Ticket radio show host and a longtime Detroit News sportswriter, said he believes the NFL will crack down on both slurs simultaneously, especially since the league expects to have its first openly gay player, Michael Sam, coming into the league for the 2014 season.
“The whole n-word banishment has more to do with getting rid of the f-word,” Foster said, “because now you may have your first openly gay player, and they know if they don’t do something, he’s going to be called that name. He may not like it. They don’t want to see this.
So now that there is potentially an openly gay player they can't use the f-word? Since they don't have any women does that mean they can still use the c-word? To me that word even more offensive than the n-word or f-word and most players would probably find it even more insulting.
I confess to not having thought much about NFL culture, but I assume it is a more masculine one than, say, the newsroom culture. And my guess is that a lot of the bad language is part of the camaraderie of tough guys out there trying to beat each other's brains out. It's hard to imagine, in this day and age, an entire group of people still casually using derogatory terms that have long been banished from polite company, but maybe I'm being naive.
The whole thing just seems so silly. Have we solved so many other problems that we can now spend so much time and energy policing athletes' language? I can't wait for that first flag to fly. No, Bret, that wasn't unnecessary roughness. The ref just called a 15-yard slur.
Oh, by the way.
Redskins. Heh.
