Could Brandon Spikes be suspended for his current tweet?

Deus Irae · Oct 11, 2012

Frezo said:
Great! Now the entire Seattle offense will declare themselves gay and Spikes won't tackle for the whole game.

It'll be fine as long as they're not playing in the bathtub.

PATSYLICIOUS · Oct 11, 2012

BadMoFo said:
I freakin' hate mouths. It doesn't do any good for anyone to be able to say whatever comes in their head for the world to hear.

Bella*chick said:
I freakin' hate twitter. It doesn't do any good for anyone to be able to post whatever comes in their head for the world to see.

Patsrock · Oct 11, 2012

Bella*chick said:
I freakin' hate twitter. It doesn't do any good for anyone to be able to post whatever comes in their head for the world to see.

No different than posting on here. Except on twitter you are most likely not hiding behind a screen name.

Patsrock · Oct 11, 2012

naF staP said:
Per Boston.com

A tweet from Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes has stirred up controversy once again.

On Wednesday, Spikes posted a comment about homosexuality.

“I’m homophobic just like I’m arachnophobic. I have nothing against homosexuals or spiders but I’d still scream if I found one in my bathtub!” he wrote.

Many Twitter users criticized him for the post, even after he later tweeted “PEOPLE !!!! It’s a joke … seriously a JOKE !!! Chill out.”

Spikes’s tweets are often vulgar and sensational. During the NFL referees lockout, his Twitter comment comparing replacement officials to Foot Locker employees made national headlines.

Yunel Escobar, a shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays, was suspended three games in September for writing a slur about homosexuality in Spanish on his eye black during a game against the Red Sox Sept. 15.
--------------------
Will Rodger Goodell suspend Brandon for this?

Also in the future might want to post the link to the article and not the whole article.
Brandon Spikes posts another controversial tweet - Patriots - Boston.com

Bella*chick · Oct 11, 2012

Alfred said:
If you hate Twitter and there is something on Twitter that someone posts, or discusses, why do you bother to read it?

What a silly question.....because it's everywhere?

Razor's Edge · Oct 11, 2012

I thought this was a riot when I read it, nothing wrong whatsoever with it, yes it was a joke and that's exactly how I saw it. The problem is everyone is just so damn uptight, the sense of humor is a rare commodity these days. And why would that be offensive? I know plenty of people who wouldn't want a spider in their bath tub,

Jackson 2 · Oct 11, 2012

Deus Irae said:
It was a joke. What Spikes said wasn't even insulting or belittling. Are you saying that athletes shouldn't be allowed to take the 10 seconds required to post a twitter comment on their off time? I ask because, let's be honest here, pretty much anything beyond "I just woke up and am waiting to face the day!" is going to offend someone.

The sad reality of this country is that almost everyone is in favor of free speech for themselves, but a huge portion of the country opposes free speech for everyone else except themselves.

The First Amendment has absolutely nothing to do with this issue. The First Amendment provides citizens with protection when disagreeing with the government. The First Amendment does not protect citizens by allowing them to say whatever they want without consequences. I'm guessing that most people who expressed the types of sentiments that Spikes did PUBLICLY would very likely hear from their employers and I doubt it would be about a raise in pay. An old adage states, "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing." That adage applies to the misunderstanding many, many people have about the First Amendment. Brandon Spikes' comments placed his employer and, more importantly, his teammates in a difficult position. He created a distraction. Jermaine Cunningham was asked to comment on it already. Undoubtedly, many others have and/or will be. He created a distraction and it's not the first time. he needs, to be blunt, to shut the F%^& up when it comes to public comments. Terrific player, dumb guy.

BradyFTW! · Oct 11, 2012

From this tweet, we can deduce that Brandon Spikes is basically a stupid human being. Not surprising, but not suspension-worthy in of itself. Nothing compared to what Kyle Love tweeted a couple years back, and he never faced any discipline for it.

BradyFTW! · Oct 11, 2012

Jackson 2 said:
The First Amendment has absolutely nothing to do with this issue. The First Amendment provides citizens with protection when disagreeing with the government. The First Amendment does not protect citizens by allowing them to say whatever they want without consequences. I'm guessing that most people who expressed the types of sentiments that Spikes did PUBLICLY would very likely hear from their employers and I doubt it would be about a raise in pay. An old adage states, "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing." That adage applies to the misunderstanding many, many people have about the First Amendment. Brandon Spikes' comments placed his employer and, more importantly, his teammates in a difficult position. He created a distraction. Jermaine Cunningham was asked to comment on it already. Undoubtedly, many others have and/or will be. He created a distraction and it's not the first time. he needs, to be blunt, to shut the F%^& up when it comes to public comments. Terrific player, dumb guy.

An ongoing source of humor for me is how poorly people understand the First Amendment. It doesn't permit you to say whatever you want at any time for any reason and never expect any repercussions for it. As you pointed it, it doesn't apply to non-government entities in any way whatsoever.

Razor's Edge · Oct 11, 2012

Jackson 2 said:
He created a distraction and it's not the first time. he needs, to be blunt, to shut the F%^& up when it comes to public comments. Terrific player, dumb guy.

It's not Spikes that is creating a distraction, it's everybody making a big deal out of something that isn't a big deal. I really don't know what he said that is so controversial. It's called HUMOR.

BradyFTW! · Oct 11, 2012

Bella*chick said:
I freakin' hate twitter. It doesn't do any good for anyone to be able to post whatever comes in their head for the world to see.

Twitter is a great tool in the hands of non-idiots. Put it in the hands of the average pro athlete, though, and... yeah.

Deus Irae · Oct 11, 2012

Jackson 2 said:
The First Amendment has absolutely nothing to do with this issue. The First Amendment provides citizens with protection when disagreeing with the government. The First Amendment does not protect citizens by allowing them to say whatever they want without consequences. I'm guessing that most people who expressed the types of sentiments that Spikes did PUBLICLY would very likely hear from their employers and I doubt it would be about a raise in pay. An old adage states, "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing." That adage applies to the misunderstanding many, many people have about the First Amendment. Brandon Spikes' comments placed his employer and, more importantly, his teammates in a difficult position. He created a distraction. Jermaine Cunningham was asked to comment on it already. Undoubtedly, many others have and/or will be. He created a distraction and it's not the first time. he needs, to be blunt, to shut the F%^& up when it comes to public comments. Terrific player, dumb guy.

Nowhere in this thread did I mention the First Amendment. What I mentioned was free speech. They are not the same thing. The first Amendment is merely the mechanism by which speech was supposed to be protected against abridgement by the Federal Government.

As for the rest, I'll leave that to others.

BradyFTW! · Oct 11, 2012

Razor's Edge said:
It's not Spikes that is creating a distraction, it's everybody making a big deal out of something that isn't a big deal. I really don't know what he said that is so controversial. He's not dissing anyone or thing.

Do you honestly think that he shouldn't be expected to recognize that posting about his homophobia on Twitter is going to create some controversy?

Uncle Rico · Oct 11, 2012

Razor's Edge said:
It's not Spikes that is creating a distraction, it's everybody making a big deal out of something that isn't a big deal. I really don't know what he said that is so controversial. It's called HUMOR.

It's the way it goes now with Twitter, one of the downsides of a great tool: Someone writers something on Twitter (which just about anyone can do) and someone objects to it on Twitter(9which almost anyone can do) et voila — instant controversy. "This just in: Someone said something and someone didn't like it, and here's the screen shot to prove it."

Jackson 2 · Oct 11, 2012

Deus Irae said:
Nowhere in this thread did I mention the First Amendment. What I mentioned was free speech. They are not the same thing. The first Amendment is merely the mechanism by which speech was supposed to be protected against abridgement by the Federal Government.

As for the rest, I'll leave that to others.

Freedom of speech/expression and First Amendment rights are correctly used interchangeably. Dont attempt to pull that BS. What an idiotic response.

Kid~Brady · Oct 11, 2012

Razor's Edge said:
It's not Spikes that is creating a distraction, it's everybody making a big deal out of something that isn't a big deal. I really don't know what he said that is so controversial. It's called HUMOR.

Ok, sorry for this but you're either:

a. an idiot or
b. never held a meaningful job at the professional level

As professionals, you represent your company, especially private, wherever you go and whatever you do. There is no time where you in are public and "off the clocl" so to say. The media supposedly ran Jermaine Cunningham down in the mall not to question him about football and the team, but rather in an attempt to get his reaction to what Brandon tweeted.

This creates bad PR and attention for the team, the business as a whole thats unwanted.

Deus Irae · Oct 11, 2012

Jackson 2 said:
Freedom of speech/expression and First Amendment rights are correctly used interchangeably. Dont attempt to pull that BS. What an idiotic response.

Ok, so you don't understand the law. That's fine, but you probably shouldn't be preaching on it then.

Razor's Edge · Oct 11, 2012

BradyFTW! said:
Do you honestly think that he shouldn't be expected to recognize that posting about his homophobia on Twitter is going to create some controversy?

You made my point, yes it caused, obviouly some controversy, but ask yourself why? Why should anyone care about his phobias? Really, who gives a sh#$.

Deus Irae · Oct 11, 2012

BradyFTW! said:
Do you honestly think that he shouldn't be expected to recognize that posting about his homophobia on Twitter is going to create some controversy?

Seems as if you're asking too much of any human being who posts anything. There are people who get offended if you tell them you had eggs for breakfast.

Bhelmet · Oct 11, 2012

Re: Could Brandon Spike be suspended for his current tweet?

Fixit said:
You're right; the First Amendment doesn't apply to the NFL, as the amendment applies specifically to government limiting free speech, not a corporation.

Having said that, I don't see how anyone could read his Tweet as being homophobic. It was a silly joke, and you could've replaced "homosexual" with "Italian" or "hippopotamus" and it would have had the same non-meaning.

Having said that: Brandon, just get the f*** off Twitter until you grow up enough to stop saying dumb **** that can be used against you by a vocal few.

That is fine WHEN IN the workplace - I get it. When at home, he is a private citizen just like anyone else.

Could Brandon Spikes be suspended for his current tweet?

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