Free Republic

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 22, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – All the speakers at the 2016 March for Life play a pivotal role – but only one was regularly called an MVP. Matt Birk, the former center for the Minnesota Vikings and the Baltimore Ravens, proclaimed his support for women and unborn children this afternoon from the frosty dais of the March for Life. Birk explained the reasons his family attended the 43rd annual right-to-life event in a brief, straightforward, heartfelt speech. “I'm a football player,” he said. “I'll keep it simple.” “We march, because I've never heard a woman give birth to...

Retired six-time Pro Bowl center and former Viking Matt Birk skipped the Baltimore Ravens' visit to the White House on Wednesday for political reasons. Specifically, the St. Paul native took issue with President Barack Obama's support of Planned Parenthood. Birk is a staunch Catholic father of six children who's against abortion and has taken a strong pro-life stance. Birk has also spoken out in the past in favor of traditional marriage prior to same-sex marriage becoming legal last year in Maryland. "I wasn't there," Birk said in an interview on KFAN-FM. "I would say that I have great respect for...

Citing President Barack Obama’s recent call for God to “bless” Planned Parenthood, former All-Pro Ravens’ Center Matt Birk declined to attend a June 5 White House ceremony honoring the Super Bowl-champion Ravens. In a June 6 interview with Minneapolis-St. Paul’s KFAN Sports-Radio FM-100.3, Birk said he had “great respect for the office of the presidency,” but could not endorse Obama’s statement “in any way.” The president made the invocation during an April 26 speech at the Planned Parenthood Conference in Washington, D.C. “Planned Parenthood performs about 330,000 abortions a year,” Birk said. “I am Catholic, I am active in the...

Details from Sports Illustrated: Retired Ravens center Matt Birk spoke out Thursday morning on Minnesota’s KFAN about his reason for declining an invitation from President Barack Obama to be at the White House during the team’s visit a day earlier.Birk, a six-time Pro Bowler who was on the Ravens’ 2013 Super Bowl team, said he has “great respect for the office of the Presidency” but decided against going with the team on Wednesday as part of an annual NFL tradition for Super Bowl winners. Birk said he based his decision on a comment the president recently made in which he...

Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Matt Birk is pro-life — so when it came time for the Ravens to visit President Barack Obama for the annual congratulations to the Super Bowl winners, he decided not to go. “I wasn’t there,” Birk told The Power Trip. “I would say this, I would say that I have great respect for the office of the Presidency but about five or six weeks ago, our president made a comment in a speech and he said, ‘God bless Planned Parenthood.’” Birk, who also took a public stance during the recent gay rights movements that swung through...

It should come as no surprise that the National Football League supports the right of its players to share their opinions on important public matters, nor should it come as a surprise that I personally support my colleagues' rights to voice their opinions. But the conversation during the last few weeks on the subject of same-sex marriage has told a different story -- one that appears to be drawing a false connection between supporting true American values like free speech and the institution of marriage, our most fundamental and important social institution. I think it is important to set the...