I’m not one to make heroes of athletes but hats off to Scott Fujita:
On Sunday, Fujita will reach the pinnacle of his football career, playing linebacker for the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl. Fujita describes it as “this small moment in time where you have a platform to do some good things.’’ Last fall, that included speaking out in support of gay rights, a rare step in a professional sporting culture that often turns social stances into landmines.
Fujita, who is married, the father of twin daughters, and straight, pushes against the rising trend in sports to remain mum on cultural and political touchstones. His boldness, shaped by his unusual upbringing, makes him an uncommon and effective advocate for what he believes in.
“People asked me a question and I gave my opinion,’’ Fujita said. “People say, ‘That’s so courageous of you.’ To me, it’s not that courageous to have an opinion, especially if you wholeheartedly think it’s the right thing. For me, standing up for equal rights is the right thing to do.’’
[…..]In his support of gay rights, Zirin wanted to tap into the sports world, which he said is often regarded as “the last hamlet of homophobia.’’
Zirin believed that dissolving that stereotype could empower the campaign.
ericvsthem
Thanks for pointing this out. The political climate has moved a few steps closer to the brink of peak wingnut this week, but stories like this give me hope that the USA isn’t turning into Dumbfuckistan after all.
DBrown
Brave to be a nail standing up – a loot of people want to hammer such things; now I have a good reason to hope NO wins.
Bruce (formerly Steve S.)
I never read his book but I’m old enough to remember when Dave Kopay hit the talk show circuit in the 1970s. I seem to remember him suggesting that there was a lot more gay behavior going on in the NFL than anyone was willing to admit. It will be interesting when the first active player comes out.
Lisa K.
I am not a pro athlete by any stretch, but my understanding is that most lockerrooms are bastions of homophobia. My guess is that part of it is a desire to show the world you don’t really want to be around naked, sweaty men as much as your job requires, but also that a lot of pro athletes are just simply are not very bright (think Jonathan Papelbon-guys who would be ditch digging if they couldn’t hit or catch a ball) and as a result there is a lot of rightwingnuttery in the group. (I have a theory that ten years after he retires, Derek Jeter, who is not dumb, will come out of the closet).
So being for gay rights in a lockerroom is roughly the equivalent as being for it at a tabagger convention. That makes Scott Fujita’s actions even more admirable.
jacy
Living in the community and seeing how the Saints players by and large behave, it’s a team pretty much full of genuinly nice, stand-up guys. Fujita, Brees, and a lot of others are really just decent people who aren’t either caught up in their fame or the mindset of a lot of professional athletes.
Sean Payton too has done a good job in not allowing anybody to act like a dick. When he came to town, he cleaned house, and his ethic seems to have trickled down throughout the team.
Anyway, hats off to Fujita. I always thought he was cute anyway. :)
I also was personally gratified when Brees was on the Leno show and said the team owed their success to hard work and to Karma. Take that, Tebow.
ChrisZ
My blind allegiance to Peyton Manning cannot be swayed by things like good people doing good things! However, I hope he continues to speak out about this. The more people who do the better.
Cat Lady
Geaux Saints!
/Pats fan
Blue Raven
@Cat Lady:
What she said.
JasonF
As a former Marylander, I’ve been physically unable to root for the Colts since 1983. But it’s nice to have another reason to root for the Saints, as opposed to rooting against the Colts.
Kryptik
All the more reason aside from blind Peyton Manning hate to root for the Saints.
Who Dat!
PeterJ
Guess who Pat Robertson will blame if the Saints lose…
Next time, how about a commercial with Fujita instead of Mandate? Or would that be rejected too?
dmsilev
@JasonF: I was living in Baltimore when Irsay died. The local rag ran a cartoon showing a set of Mayflower moving vans driving up into the sky.
Two days later, they published a whole slew of letters saying that the trucks were going in the wrong direction…
-dms
smiley
I grew up a Saints fan and really hope they will win. However, I’ve lived all over the country and haven’t been able to follow them or their players very closely. So, anyone know what was unusual about Fujita’s upbringing?
John Cole
My mother still refers to the Colts as “that team from Indianapolis” and none of her friends will ever use Mayflower moving vans.
I will be rooting for the Saints. Plus Manning is the whiniest, most annoying QB in the league.
Violet
Nice to see. Thanks for highlighting it.
There have been several professional sports figures in the UK and Ireland who have come out relatively recently. One is a very well respected Welsh rugby player, Gareth Thomas, who is still playing.
So far nothing bad seems to have happened as a result. I hope that’s an encouraging sign for gay sports figures in the US.
freelancer
Sports homophobic? Phhhhht!
What with all the Favre and Manning fellating that has occurred in the last few weeks, with very little er, blowback, methinks this meme must be adjusted to reflect that.
arguingwithsignposts
@John Cole:
ORLY? I would give that honor to his majesty tom brady.
arguingwithsignposts
@John Cole:
Is this the same mother who still holds a grudge about Super Bowl III? Seems a bit of inconsistency there.
gwangung
Well, he’s not Asian by ancestry. But he was raised by a Japanese American father and a white mother. Somewhat unusual these days.
Cat Lady
@smiley:
It’s personal which is why he’s empathetic. It’s also interesting that the paper of record in Massachusetts (the Globe) got him on this issue- that’s why I really wonder how far Scott Brown can go towards being a national Republican. If he tries to go full wingnut, he’s toast at the end of his term. Teh Massachusetts Gheys aren’t going to lay down (heh) and let Scott Brown do a Palin. No way, no how.
jacy
@smiley:
Fujita is white, but was adopted by a Japanese-American family, who’s family had been interned in a camp in California during WWII. His adoptive father was born at the internment camp. So he considers himself Japanese-American culturally.
He’s come out publically both for gay rights and abortion rights.
Josh Huaco
Which is why I’m so glad Brettfavre and the Vikings aren’t in the Super Bowl. I don’t think I could have handled two whole weeks of the media’s narrative of Superman v. God.
Tax Analyst
Well, then I think we need to see his birfh certificate before allowing him to play in the Super Bowl. After all, that’s supposed to be for REAL AMURICANZ!
SteveinSC
Nobility occasionally appears sweetly and without warning or cant.
Dreggas
Focus On the Family has just announced they will be scrapping the Tim Tebow ad in favor of one praying for a cat 5 hurricane to kill the saints.
parksideq
@John Cole:
Did you mean Peyton or Eli? No snark; I ask as a Giants fan that’s said that about the latter for years. (though Brady is just as bad)
scarshapedstar
Fujita is a really, really good guy. Ditto for Brees.
Incertus
And he’s not a half-bad linebacker either. He’s not an All-Pro or anything, but he does the job.
I really can’t blame pro athletes for voting Republican–they make enough money that it’s in their best interests–but I do wish they weren’t generally wingnuts as well. Fujita is one of the rare ones, and I’m glad he’s a Saint.
aimai
Football is so not my thing but thanks to these links I read around about Fujita and I have to say I’m totally in love. What an incredible person. You have to love his comment about dealing with his team mates after he went public with his lack of homophobia. It was something along the lines of “they already call me the commie pinko faggot from berkeley. I can take it.”
aimai
HumboldtBlue
He’s a Cal grad who could have gone to school on an academic scholarship as well. He was a local boy when I began sportswriting for the Ventura County Star. He was a an all-around athlete at Rio Mesa High. Good egg.
Warren Terra
I encourage people to also read the rest of the article: Fujita sounds like a really, really good person.
charmcity
I heard Dave Zirin speak last fall in Baltimore about gender and sports and he mentioned Fujita. Nice to see it getting more coverage.
Zirin’s blog (and books) are fantastic is you’re at all interested in sports and politics. He’s a very smart guy.
HumboldtBlue
And one other important note —
The 442d Regimental Combat team is one of if not the most highly decorated outfit in U.S Army history. The unit was composed of Nisei, primarily from California and Hawai’i (Senator Inuoye, either 441 or 442) and was, of course, sent to Europe because they couldn’t be trusted to fight in the Pacific.
The history of the unit while in combat is a heartbreaking tale. Their commander, a good old white boy from the South didn’t believe his men could fight as well as white soldiers and continually volunteered them for the most hazardous and dangerous duty. Their casualty rate was abominable and they were repeatedly kept on the line far longer than any other (white) unit.
Following the war, the feelings of hatred were so deep that at an anniversary for the unit, their former commander made an appearance and was shocked when his former soldiers dumbly stared at him while he rode down the viewing line in a jeep. No salutes, no heart greetings, no cheers. That general could not understand why these men held a grudge.
HumboldtBlue
That’s a lot of fucking MoH winners from one unit.
New Yorker
Wow, Fujita is almost enough for me to overlook raging douchebag (and undoubted homophobe) Jeremy Shockey and root for the Saints.
As it is, I’m officially neutral on this Superbowl.
The Moar You Know
I’d just like to take this opportunity to say “fuck Tim Tebow”.
Thank you.
gwangung
@HumboldtBlue: That’s just political correctness, according to Michelle Malkin.
jayjaybear
Huh-what?! Does he mean the rising trend in sports to remain right-wing on cultural and political touchstones? Because I could give a list that would take me several hours to type of sports figures who were raging wingnuts, beginning with fucking Tim Tebow. (Okay…that last bit came out all wrong…)
Mayken
Awesome!
Steve T.
I’ve never been a sports fan, but I am sooo stoked for this game backing my boys, the Saints. And I luvvv Scott Fujita. He grew up in SoCal, in Ventura, and went to college at Berkeley. I grew up in Berkeley and went to college at UCLA, where I met my partner. Scott’s genetically white, as I am, but he got to grow up culturally Japanese. I kinda envy that.
There’s no way to describe the intensity of the bond between the people of New Orleans and our team, all bound together as the Who Dat Nation. It’s unprecedented, especially with guys like Coach Payton, QB Brees, and Fujita. These, and other teammates, have adopted New Orleans as their home town with all their hearts, as I did years ago. And they are guys who chose to come to New Orleans when people were telling them they were crazy to do so. Uh, hurricanes? Remember those? Isn’t that city dying? Some even thought the Saints were crazy to take them. Drew Brees was being passed over by every team because of his shoulder surgery. Defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove was struggling back from drug and alcohol abuse and extended rehab. Rejects and misfits. Underdogs.
New Orleans loves being the underdog, being underestimated, and we REVEL in being misfits.
That Scott is so strident about gay rights just blows me away. That guy I met at UCLA and I have been together for 34 years. He’s older than I am and now disabled, so I spend every day caring for him. His health is not the best, and I know that before too long I will have to say goodbye. And the law says I cannot marry him, and will not be his widower when he dies.
Scott hates this, and wants to fight it. DAMN, but I admire him.
Lisa K.
@John Cole:
THISTHISTHISTHISTHISTHIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lisa K.
@arguingwithsignposts:
Then you would be completely wrong.