Could Brandon Spikes be suspended for his current tweet?

[patsox23]

Sad, the 1st Amendment does not apply to the NFL - we already know Goodell is a tyrant so Brandon's fate is up in the air. I actually thought the tweet was funny - not hate at all.

PLEASE LEARN WHAT THE 1ST AMENDMENT IS ABOUT. It's not that you get to say what you want with impunity and no consequence. It's that the government can't put you away for speaking your mind, no matter how ugly the thought. Sorry to jump on you, but this is a RIDICULOUS meme that has been out in the ether for decades, and it's appalling.

 

[Joker]

you CAN say what you want in a free society but you must PAY the price for what you say...

 

[IllegalContact]

who cares......I mean he's a football player

its not like we look to him for spiritual guidance.

 

[E1Downey]

who cares......I mean he's a football player

its not like we look to him for spiritual guidance.

Speak for yourself! Im following B.Spikes all the way down the road to enlightenment!

-Sent from the device that is held in my hand-

 

[BananaRepublican]

a lesbian called EEI this afternoon

Butch from the Cape?

 

[BananaRepublican]

its not like we look to him for spiritual guidance.

You better hope the NFL Organizational Branding Guidelines aren't about to be updated to fill that hole.

One of these days you won't be able to get through the gate without passing a facial recognition test, a CAT scan, an Iris scan, Catholic confession, a hot poker up your ass, and a lie detector test to validate that you really aren't angry or potentially ready to embarrass the NFL on TV.

 

[BananaRepublican]

Roger Goodell should be busy working on suspensions for Jets offensive lineman Slauson, the Jets offensive line coach, and Jets head coach Rex Ryan for a blatant attempt at injuring a Houston Texans linebacker.

Let's leave football out of this. Branding is the theme. Moichendizing, moichendizing.

 

[1960Pats]

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.

There's no doubt that Spikes is a dope, but the distraction was/is/forever will be caused by the attention it receives from the mediots. If not for that flood of attention, nobody here would know or care what he said. It appears as if the reason it's getting so much play is because he had the audacity to joke about homosexuality. He would have been much better off joking about a blonde, white woman.

 

[Ive_Killed_People]

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

Dont forget we have enabled this PC culture by electing Type B sensitive types who think the greatest crime in the world is hurting someone's feelings. We are weakened as individuals and as a society. More people actually kill themselves nowadays than ever. And its not because of an increase in bullying but a decrease in cajones.

 

[Jackson 2]

There's no doubt that Spikes is a dope, but the distraction was/is/forever will be caused by the attention it receives from the mediots. If not for that flood of attention, nobody here would know or care what he said. It appears as if the reason it's getting so much play is because he had the audacity to joke about homosexuality. He would have been much better off joking about a blonde, white woman.

Look, while I didn't see much humor in the content of his tweet, I have no problem with the fact that others did. I don't give a rat's ass what the tweet was. My larger point, aside from the phony and erroneous free speech issue, is that he created a shytstorm for the team I root for because he didn't/doesn't have the self-discipline to keep his flippin' fingers off of his phone. Fact: if doesn't tweet it, the media can't jump on it. As Bruschi said about Ocho: "Stop tweeting and get into the damn playbook." Spikes is a really talented player who has been largely inconsistent and undependable durinhg his career. He needs to pay more attention to his job and less attention to apparitions in his bathtub. Finally, I haven't seen any of his prior tweets, but those who have seem to believe that this one was mild in terms of potential controversy and offensiveness.

 

[E1Downey]

There's no doubt that Spikes is a dope, but the distraction was/is/forever will be caused by the attention it receives from the mediots. If not for that flood of attention, nobody here would know or care what he said. It appears as if the reason it's getting so much play is because he had the audacity to joke about homosexuality. He would have been much better off joking about a blonde, white woman.

I agree with you on both counts. Spikes is a dope and the media sucks. However, with that said, we cant use the media as an excuse.(not saying you are but ive heard people do it) In cases like this its almost irrelevant that the media creates the "controversy".

Its irrelevant because, the media has been this way for how long now? Twitter has been around for how long now? Weve known twitter leads to trouble and that the media is full of douchebags for quite some time. (not dismissing thw media, i agree they suck more often than not, but he still shoudlve known better.)

Its no excuse. It was a bonehead move. Again, the joke doesnt bother me. Im bothered that he has created an unneeded distraction just days before a tough game in a hostile enviroment on the other side of the country.

-Sent from the device that is held in my hand-

 

[Observer]

I don't see why anyone cares. He is a kid that plays a game. He said something that was not even really homophobic and I am sure his teammates found it funny. This is only a a distraction if you go out of your way to desperately find a distraction, in other words a distraction for message board posters only.

 

[SeymourTrophies]

I wouldn't worry about any distraction this tweet may cause. Per the PFW guys, there was one mediot in the locker room asking all of the players if they hated gay people. Apparently Zoltan batted him around (figuratively, of course).

 

[upstater1]

The vast majority of people posting on this thread prove that they don't get it.

If a white guy on the team made a similar joke about finding a black guy in his bathroom, I can see many would take it as joke, but really, think about it. It's not. It's just stupid. What if I compared finding a black guy to finding a mouse? Or a black guy to finding a snake? Etc.

The fact is, if I found any stranger in my tub (unless it was a Victoria Secret model) I'd be perturbed. So why single out gays?

I'm African-American Phobic, how's that sound?

 

[UK_Pat37]

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

Political correctness t the extreme.

I have nothing against gays but do I won't it in my face? Of course not.

I don't even like heterosexual couples getting in people's faces with public affection.

It was a joke...a funny one too.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Before Twitter/Facebook were around,none of this crap ever happened,even with the media before then,no Patriot ever spoke out about a thing but the next opponent

.......I miss those days where the Patriot players kept thier opinions about stuff OFF the field to themselves and thier friends and family.

 

[Kid~Brady]

The vast majority of people posting on this thread prove that they don't get it.

If a white guy on the team made a similar joke about finding a black guy in his bathroom, I can see many would take it as joke, but really, think about it. It's not. It's just stupid. What if I compared finding a black guy to finding a mouse? Or a black guy to finding a snake? Etc.

The fact is, if I found any stranger in my tub (unless it was a Victoria Secret model) I'd be perturbed. So why single out gays?

I'm African-American Phobic, how's that sound?

I don't think you get our points either.

We all understand that its a joke, whether good or bad. I'm sure that none of us was "personally" offended by the case but our points were made that it did offend others. It brings "unwanted" attention to the players, the team and the organization as a whole. We are talking on different wave lengths...

I look at this more from a professional standpoint... probably because he plays professional football for a very prestgious organization that is "image" savvy. It was on the news for godsake, it does play a part and has bearing on the organization.

Look beyond the stupid joke, put yourself and Belichick's shoes, the Kraft's shoes' for that matter and rethink your objection.

 

[UK_Pat37]

Look beyond the stupid joke, put yourself and Belichick's shoes, the Kraft's shoes' for that matter and rethink your objection.

Pretty tough considering none of us are in either's shoes and go off of mediot talk.

Personally, if he's performing, who cares?

I'm bored of our soft image. Where's it actually got us since 2004? We tell Jets fans two AFC Championship games doesn't constitute achievement, well neither do two Super Bowl defeats and one of the biggest choke jobs in AFCCG history.

Spikes is what ths team needs...it's what we've lacked since our dominating defence of the dynasty era. I'd say get off his back, let him be who he wants to be and let him continue being what he is...so far the best and most consistent player on our defence and a huge play maker.

 

[upstater1]

I don't think you get our points either.

We all understand that its a joke, whether good or bad. I'm sure that none of us was "personally" offended by the case but our points were made that it did offend others. It brings "unwanted" attention to the players, the team and the organization as a whole. We are talking on different wave lengths...

I look at this more from a professional standpoint... probably because he plays professional football for a very prestgious organization that is "image" savvy. It was on the news for godsake, it does play a part and has bearing on the organization.

Look beyond the stupid joke, put yourself and Belichick's shoes, the Kraft's shoes' for that matter and rethink your objection.

Did you even read my post?

 

[Bhelmet]

PLEASE LEARN WHAT THE 1ST AMENDMENT IS ABOUT. It's not that you get to say what you want with impunity and no consequence. It's that the government can't put you away for speaking your mind, no matter how ugly the thought. Sorry to jump on you, but this is a RIDICULOUS meme that has been out in the ether for decades, and it's appalling.

It is not ridiculous. All I am saying is that if it were me and I got a suspension/fine, I would challenge it as far as I could take it. There were no derogatory terms, if it offended even 5 million people then that is 1.4% of the population. That, to me, means the 1.4% have the problem, not the 98.6% who either laughed, didn't care, or didn't know. He is a citizen in his own home telling a joke. The team, if they chose to do so, has every right to suspend/fine him - they sign his checks. If the league came after me, I would ask myself where is my union rep? I was sitting in my home (I don't know where he was - on league property, then that changes my argument) sipping some champagne tweeting out my version of a joke I heard. The Players Union better back me to the Supreme Court, if necessary (extreme, I know, but it would never go that far). The League may have rules that address this (but I doubt they do where Twitter is concerned), but I would challenge that all day long through my union (I would also have to wonder if the players would have agreed to a CBA that included fines/suspensions on Twitter). Doing it on TV or to the media is a different situation entirely. This is where I am coming from and what I would do if I were a player - it is about principle for me.