Thursday, December 6, 2007

An Open Letter to Terence Newman

Dear Mr. Newman,

I find your desire to seriously hurt Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna puzzling and frightening, and I'm wondering if you can explain to me exactly what is going through your mind.

Here's the background:

Kitna threw four touchdown passes in the regular-season finale in Dallas last year to end a 3-13 season for Detroit. In an interview the following week with a radio station in Seattle, where the Cowboys had to go for the playoffs, Kitna called out the Dallas defense, specifically linebacker Bradie James.


So, Kitna "called out" the Dallas defense. What exactly did he say that caused you to decide that next time you met, you'd do your best to cream him? What could he possibly have said to justify your intention to harm him because he dared to speak his mind?


In your satellite interview just a couple of days ago, you said the following:

"Basically what it boils down to is you've got to watch what you say. Your mouth can't write checks that your (expletive) can't cash. That's what it comes down to," Newman said. "Everybody's going to see those quotes. He better just hope I don't blitz off the edge, because I've got 15, 25, 30 (thousand dollars), however much it would be for a fine. I've got that much for one fine. Revenge will be sweet definitely."


"Revenge will be sweet," you say. But just what is your definition of revenge?

The Dallas Cowboys are 11 - 1, the Detroit Lions are 6 - 6 and have lost their last 4. They have no chance against the Cowboys, and they will probably be just as embarrassed as they were when they lost by over 30 to the Minnesota Vikings.

Why isn't that going to be enough revenge for you? Why do you find it necessary to go out of your way to hurt the man... up to $30,000 worth? And how can you gauge your intent to injure so precisely? Are you more skilled in your violence than that hockey loon, Todd Bertuzzi, who:

grabbed Moore from behind during a 2004 game, punched him on the side of his head and then landed on top of Moore, driving his head into the ice. The bloodied Colorado player was removed on a stretcher, sustaining a broken neck and a concussion.


So what's your plan for Kitna, Mr. Newman? Do you want to break his leg? Break an arm? Give him a concussion? End his career? All because he dared to say that the Dallas defense didn't play well during that game?

Is that the way you were raised? Is this the kind of "thuggish" behavior that had Sean Taylor living in Miami in fear of his life (despite the fact that his four murderers swear they hadn't intended to kill him, they just brought the gun along for kicks, eh?)

Is it thuggish behavior, or it is just "childish" behavior - the kind of behavior you should have grown out of by the time you were 13 if you'd been brought up properly.

The NFL sent you a letter, which you found necessary to post on your locker:

"Be advised that your comments will now compel us to carefully monitor your activities in this weekend's Cowboys-Lions game," read part of the letter signed by Ray Anderson, NFL executive vice president for football operations. "As you know, flagrant fouls may subject a player not only to fines, but to suspension as well. So conduct yourself accordingly."


They've called you out, Mr. Newman. They haven't asked you to act like a mature human being, they've merely warned you that you'll not only be fined but suspended when you put your hurt on Kitna.

And being the kind of man you are...you can't let that go, can you? If you react to the NFL's threat, you'll lose all the respect of your "peeps," won't you? You'll have "caved" to the NFL's pressure - and as a "man," you can't let that happen, can you. You've got to be a "man" and follow through with your threat, or your "peeps" will just laugh at you.

Well, perhaps it will be a test case. You hurt Kitna, and he'll probably sue you for assault, and hopefully have you thrown in jail for your thuggish behavior.

Mr. Newman - athletes talk trash all the time, don't they? Wide receivers strut through the endzone posing and looking like morons, defensive players celebrate with their little dances themselves, and these antics don't cause you to want to hurt that player? But because someone verbally comments on a player's defensive skills, all of a sudden you need revenge?

Were you actually brought up to behave like this? Do you not see that your behavior is childish, and not that of a "man?"

I'm not one of your peeps, and never will be, but I'll have a little bit of respect for you if you play the game the way it's supposed to be played. But, you know, I think you're making your plans for Kitna's doom - and your own - already.

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