Not Your Typical Boyd Football Post
On September 3rd, 18-year old Jamie Kuntz, a
freshman linebacker for the junior college North Dakota State College of
Sciences, was kicked off the football team for conduct detrimental to the team.
Coach Chuck Parsons said Kuntz had lied to him. Kuntz admitted to lying to
Parsons, but says the real reason he was kicked off the team was for being gay.
Kuntz missed the first game of the season against Snow
College due to a concussion. The team had him videotape the game in the press
box. Kuntz decided to invite his 65-year old boyfriend, who lived near Snow
College, to the box as well. That is not a typo, 65 years old. Towards the end
of the 63-17 defeat, Kuntz and his boyfriend embraced in a kiss, a kiss that
was more than a peck but less than a makeout. The kiss was caught by some of
his teammates on the field and surprised many. Kuntz had kept his homosexuality
a secret from mostly everyone, including his family. The coaching staff had
heard what happened and Parsons asked Kuntz on the bus ride back home what had
happened in the press box. Kuntz had told Parsons the person next to him was
his grandfather. After the ride, Kuntz grabbed Parsons and admitted to the lie.
Two days later, Kuntz was dismissed from the football team and he eventually
withdrew from the school.
Coach Chuck Parsons was completely within his right to kick
Kuntz off the team. In my many years of athletic experience, there is one
universal rule I’ve observed: don’t lie to the coach. If you lie to your coach,
you are basically signing your own death warrant if you get caught. Take it
from someone who has lied to his football coach before and gotten caught. I
knew my punishment could have ranged from verbal (“Don’t ever fucking do it
again”) to the extreme (kicked off the team, while my teammates removed my
clothing and tar and feathered me). Luckily, I was giving a verbal reprimand
and that was that. Despite Kuntz’s claims that players have done far worse
(underage drinking, fighting, etc.) and not been dismissed, Parsons acted
within his rights.
Having said that, I think Parsons completely overreacted.
Parsons could have disciplined Kuntz in a manner of ways, such as suspending
him or having him perform extra conditioning. Kuntz had asked if there was any
way he could receive an alternative punishment, Parsons responded he could not
as it had become too big of a distraction. And this is where the controversy
comes in.
We live in a society where we have yet to see a notable
athlete come out of the closet while playing. Perhaps everyone in the NBA, NFL,
NHL, or MLB is straight, but that is highly unlikely. Is America ready for gay
athletes? I’d like to say we are, but it appears we are not. Case in point, the
view of gay marriage in this country. It is still a hot button issue in this
country. 44 states do not allow it. We can’t even agree as a country about two
people of the same sex, who we wouldn’t know otherwise, getting married but
we’d be ready for a NFL player to come out as the closet?
Jamie Kuntz said he kept his sexuality his secret because he
didn’t think his teammates could handle it. Based on the jokes and comments
they made regularly about gay people, he didn’t think they’d pull a 180 and
fully accept his lifestyle. Once again, I’d like to think our society would be
able to look past this, there has been no precedent ever set before. We have
yet to see how people would deal with an outed teammate. I don’t blame Kuntz
for his decision to lie to the coach in this particular instance. It’s just
unfortunate that in 2012, people still need to lie about their sexuality. Until
someone comes out publicly, we’ll continue to see people be secretive about
their alternative lifestyles.
Unfortunately, that lie is what is going to keep this topic
in the news for awhile. If Kuntz had been forthcoming from the beginning, I
don’t see how he could have been dismissed from the team without there being a
clear case of discrimination. Instead, the lie allows there to be enough
reasonable doubt that this dismissal was warranted, regardless of the implied
bigotry. The only person who will ever know if Jamie Kuntz was kicked off the
NDSCS football team for being gay is Coach Chuck Parsons and I’ll doubt he’d
ever admit it if that was the case.
Before you wonder when I became the voice of reason and a
hypocrite, I realize that among my group of friends, we say some pretty
offensive things. However, our over-the-top comments do not reflect our views
on race and sexuality. Is it OK if we call someone in our group a faggot for no
apparent reason? Absolutely not, but it does not indicate we are intolerant of
gay people. I can safely say that among the people I call my good friends;
there is not one person who would treat anyone differently due to their race,
creed, gender, color, or sexual orientation.
Despite writing nearly 900 words on this serious matter, I
can’t end without two observations. First, if Kuntz is pronounced like cunts, I
laugh at the irony. That would be like a virgin being named Cindy Loosevag or a
black guy being named Tyrone Whitecracker. Second, what the hell is an 18-year
old doing with a 65-year old? Regardless of the gender, that’s disgusting. I
don’t see how a teenager can be physically attracted to a senior citizen,
without finances being involved. I know love doesn’t know an age, but with a 47
year difference, it can figure it out real quick. Absolutely sickening. Kuntz,
do yourself a favor and find someone who was at least born after the Vietnam
War.
-Written by Marcus Boyd 
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