Millen Apologizes for Derogatory Term -wont lose job for bad coaching, might for calling Morton gay

LARRY LAGE ^ | Monday, December 15, 2003 | LARRY LAGE

[presidio9]

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Detroit Lions president Matt Millen apologized Monday for using a derogatory term for gays in a heated exchange with Kansas City receiver Johnnie Morton.

Millen was talking with Kansas City players and coaches outside their locker room after the Chiefs' 45-17 victory Sunday when he ran into Morton, cut by Millen after the 2001 season.

Millen, also the Lions' general manager, said he congratulated Morton but was greeted with an insult from the player.

"Unfortunately, I retaliated with a derogatory term directed toward Johnnie," Millen said in a statement. "I apologize if I offended anyone. It was certainly not meant to do anything other than express my frustration and disappointment."

Morton apologized for his part in the exchange, but was disappointed by Millen's choice of words.

"What he said is demeaning and bigoted," Morton told The Kansas City Star. "Jeremy Shockey got in trouble for saying it about a coach (Bill Parcells), and now we have a president of a team making statements like that. It's totally unacceptable. I have gay friends, and I don't even joke around with them like that."

Last summer, Shockey called Parcells a "homo" in a New York magazine article.

Millen has been the focus of several controversies in his three years heading the Lions, who are 4-10 this season.

He was fined $200,000 this summer by the NFL because he didn't follow the league's minority hiring policy when he hired coach Steve Mariucci.

During the 2002 season, Millen called an unidentified player a "devout coward." Millen later apologized.

[hattend]

But.. but... but... What if he is a homo?

Free speech, what's that?

[freekitty]

It's alright for the player to insult?

[Always Right]

"What he said is demeaning and bigoted," Morton told The Kansas City Star

Is Morton admitting he is? Seems like an odd response if he wasn't.

[Always Right]

Millen has been the focus of several controversies in his three years heading the Lions, who are 4-10 this season.

The Lions are having one of their better seasons....

[mhking]

The full version of the incident, according to this morning's Detroit Free Press:

Sources say Millen was talking to several Chiefs players outside the Kansas City locker room and called out Morton's name to get his attention when Morton walked past.

Morton, who said last week he had gotten over any hard feelings after being released by Millen and the Lions in March 2002, reportedly continued walking but told Millen to "kiss my ass."

To which Millen responded with a derogatory term questioning Morton's sexual preference.

"After the game I was passing the Chiefs' locker room when I stopped to congratulate some of their players," Millen said in a statement released by the Lions. "I was talking with Vonnie Holliday, Trent Green, Tony Gonzalez and one of the coaches, Joe Vitt. I wished all those guys the best and good luck in the playoffs.

"I then saw Johnnie and I tried to wish him the best, and congratulate him as well. When I called out to him, he just kept walking and then he made a derogatory remark toward me, which really upset me.

"Unfortunately, I retaliated with a derogatory term directed toward Johnnie. I apologize if I offended anyone. It was certainly not meant to do anything other than express my frustration and disappointment" with Morton.

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[lormand]

The NFL may soon require all White males in the league to undergo sensitivity training, just because they are White.

Whitey is not trusted to make decisions solely based on the qualifications of the job, if that qualification is that the applicant not be a Whitey.

This is the new NFL. I turned it off years ago with the rest of professional sports.

[Twenty Muleteam Borax]

They're all white on my team...

My muleteam.

[presidio9]

Apparently the Detroit Free Press, home of Deb Price, can post "kiss my ass," but not the comback "What, are you a homo?"

[King Black Robe]

Everyone is entirely too touchy. If the Kansas City Star didn't have an agenda, this wouldn't be news. One would think flippant insults a rare occurence in the NFL (wanna buy some swamp land?).

[F16Fighter]

Millen said in a statement. "I apologize if I offended anyone."

Yeah. Speaking of "homos," Matty can bend over for the soap himself now by backing down on a simple name-calling charge. What an embarrassing wuss.

[Texas Federalist]

According to ESPN, the term he used was "faggot".

[WOSG]

"I have gay friends, and I don't even joke around with them like that."

huh? Is it not permitted to call a gay friend gay?
That is so gay. :-)

[Interesting Times]

Millen should have insisted, with a straight face, that the term isn't derogatory and that anyone who disagrees is a homophobic bigot.

Hey, it's better than crawling on your belly for the Speech Nazis...

[King Black Robe]

That's all he said? LOL!

[presidio9]

Thanks for clarifying, but I don't think it changes the initial point. Is "faggot" more derogatory in your book? I am having trouble keeping track of the levels of offensiveness, I just know that the pillowbiters are very easily outraged. Must have something to do with walking around with a sore ass all the time.

[TSgt]

I'm a homo................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................sapien.

[WOSG]

ah that is indeed derogatory ... he shouldnt have called him an old English term connoting a stick-used-for-kindling. Very insulting. (I have no idea why it became the derogatory term for homosexual though; queer used to be a derogatory term, until the (ahem) queers started calling themselves that. Funny how that naming stuff goes. )

[Texas Federalist]

I do think that "faggot" is probably more offensive than "homo". Bit it is possibly less offensive than "butt pirate" or "fudge packer". You can't contest that. I have graphs and pie charts proving my point.