Former Chicago Bear Dan Hampton apologizes for anti-gay comment
Mon. September 13, 2010 1:29 PM by OnTopMag.com
Chicago, IL -
Pro Football Weekly host Dan Hampton has apologized for an anti-gay remark he made during last Sunday's broadcast.
The syndicated show is co-hosted by Hampton, who earned his 2002 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction after a 12-year career with the Chicago Bears, Pro Football Weekly publisher-editor Hub Arkush, Chicago sportscaster Pat Boyle and Tom Waddle, a former Chicago Bears player.
Hampton landed in hot water with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for suggesting that the Dallas Cowboys are gay.
"The Cowboys think they are Clint Eastwood; they're more of the Brokeback variety, if you know what I'm talking about," he told viewers, referring to the gay cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain.
In asking for an apology, GLAAD said such comments encourage anti-gay violence.
"Hampton was a tremendous player for the Chicago Bears throughout the 1980s, he's a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he's a television personality, and whether he likes it or nor, he's a role model. Every day, millions of kids across this country are harassed, bullied and beaten because of attitudes like this. Hampton should not be using this platform to encourage homophobia."
Arkush told GLAAD that the comment should not have happened and promised an on-air apology was in the offing.
"Last week I made a couple of comments about Katrina and the gay community that not only embarrassed myself but the fine people here at Pro Football Weekly," Hampton said on this week's program. "I'm an idiot. And I am truly sorry if those comments, you know, offended any of our great and wonderful viewers."
"Again, I'm truly sorry about that," he added.
The syndicated show is co-hosted by Hampton, who earned his 2002 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction after a 12-year career with the Chicago Bears, Pro Football Weekly publisher-editor Hub Arkush, Chicago sportscaster Pat Boyle and Tom Waddle, a former Chicago Bears player.
Hampton landed in hot water with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for suggesting that the Dallas Cowboys are gay.
"The Cowboys think they are Clint Eastwood; they're more of the Brokeback variety, if you know what I'm talking about," he told viewers, referring to the gay cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain.
In asking for an apology, GLAAD said such comments encourage anti-gay violence.
"Hampton was a tremendous player for the Chicago Bears throughout the 1980s, he's a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he's a television personality, and whether he likes it or nor, he's a role model. Every day, millions of kids across this country are harassed, bullied and beaten because of attitudes like this. Hampton should not be using this platform to encourage homophobia."
Arkush told GLAAD that the comment should not have happened and promised an on-air apology was in the offing.
"Last week I made a couple of comments about Katrina and the gay community that not only embarrassed myself but the fine people here at Pro Football Weekly," Hampton said on this week's program. "I'm an idiot. And I am truly sorry if those comments, you know, offended any of our great and wonderful viewers."
"Again, I'm truly sorry about that," he added.
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