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Traina Thoughts: Derrius Guice Was Asked If He Liked Men For One Reason And One Reason Only
1. You probably know by now that LSU running back Derrius Guice was asked by one NFL team at the Combine if he likes men. The NFL has come out and said the question was inappropriate. Now we'll see if they actually do something about it.
ESPN's Israel Gutierrez and Dan Le Batard perfecty summed up why this is offensive and dangerous.
I can't say anything better than that, so I'll just tackle another angle. I saw a tweet from someone saying the team asking the absurd question didn't really care if Guice was gay, they just wanted to see his reaction to the question. I don't know if this person meant this or was just looking to get Twitter reaction by throwing out a ridiculous spin on the story, but if someone actually believes this, I can assure you, it's total and complete bull.
Guice was asked if he likes men because the vast majority of NFL teams still don't want to deal with having a gay player on their team. Plain and simple. Yes, the NFL, as a league, can come out and say the question was inappropriate, but individual teams, most of them with their old-school conservative owners, would rather stay clear of having a gay player because they foolishly think it's either a "distraction" or a PR issue.
The sad thing is that until a big-name star player is open about being gay during his playing career, things like this will continue to happen.
And deep down, despite Twitter trolling or trying to stir the pot, everyone knows this.
2. One thing about yesterday's Traina Thoughts on FOX and ESPN's obsession with Peyton Manning and a report that the networks are willing to pay him $10 million a year: Someone in the know reached out to say that the $10 million figure was way off. If that is indeed the case, I still stand by everything I wrote in the column. Plus, if Gruden was getting $6.5 million from ESPN, Manning is going to get more than that, so $10 million might not be accurate, but it'll still be a crazy number.
3. The "Australian Bee Gees" performed during the Pac-12 tournament last night and it was a disaster. Like, a really big disaster.
4. Shaq is 46 years old, but he still has some impressive moves, including a solid twerk.
5. The Clippers just went into a partnership with dating app, Bumble, but things are off to a rocky start.
6. Johnny Manziel has thoughts on the Browns jerseys.
7. There's nothing like some good-natured brotherly ribbing. After Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt posted a pic on Instagram yesterday, brother J.J. called him out.
8. RANDOM WRESTLING VIDEO OF THE DAY: The acting by Lord Alfred Hayes during this "phone call" with Owen Hart about the problems he was having with brother, Bret, is up there with DeNiro, Denzel and the other greats of our time.
The best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts. And check Jimmy Traina's weekly podcast, "Off The Board," on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher.
IN CLOSING: I'm not down with the Sopranos prequel. I'm not interested in anything that doesn't involve the cast of the iconic TV show we loved so much.
