Well I should hope he's not a homosexual, that would make him scared of himself..
It seems to be you that's missing something here. Let's restate the joke word for word: “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!”
a. At no point is he saying anything about homosexuals being in anyone's bathtub but his own.
b. The phrasing and punchline of this tweet makes it very clear that it's a joke. This means what he said doesn't necessarily depict his own views (as said it was a retweeted joke he heard).
c. It says NOTHING inflammatory (pun?) or derogatory about homosexuals. The MOST you could infer is he obviously found the joke hilarious, and that MAYBE he found it so funny because he himself is homophobic. On the other hand, I am not homophobic, and I found the joke hilarious.
So basically we have controversy because Brandon Spikes may or may not be homophobic; not anti-gay, not malevolent, maybe a bit ignorant about homosexuals. Maybe.
I get that Brandon, as a public figure, represents the Patriot brand and as such is obliged to conduct himself in a manner befitting of the organization. But these guys have to have the freedom to show some of their personality in their personal feeds. At MOST you could say this joke is edgy, anything more is hypersensitivity and sensationalizing from the mediots.
And while I'm on the topic, they complain about how hard it is to get any life or interesting answers out of Bill or the gang for questions, yet when anyone tries to have some fun with them (like Welker after the game) they make a ridiculous amount of noise about it and then wonder why they get snubbed the following week.
I feel bad for these guys.
*Remembers they're likely taking baths in their money right now to cool down from practice.*
Ok, maybe not.