Let me make sure I understand what just happened here. This guy is a sports broadcaster. He is on ESPN, a sports network. He is here to talk about something that happened in the sports world. He is here to talk about an athlete. But what is he actually talking about? Religion. That is all he is talking about. His statement is almost completely detached from the actually story. He does not even mention Jason Collins (the player who came out), basketball, or anything else sports related. It would be one thing if this was CBN and he was talking to Pat Robertson on the 700 Club. It would be one thing were he talking about religion in the context of the reactions of Jason Collins' current/future teammates. But that is not what happened here. He just gives a holier-than-thou sermon.
This response is something I would expect from a Westboro sympathizer. Let me put into perspective. There are certain people who actually agree with Broussard. These people include the likes of Bryan Fischer and Matt Barber. These two people are leaders of hate groups. That is right, Broussard is aligning himself with leaders of hate groups by trying to cloak his anti-gay animus in religion, so congrats to him on that.
This response sounded less like it was from the senior writer of a major sports magazine and more like something you would hear from the pulpit on Sunday morning. It was terrible journalism (and I am using "journalism" loosely) and ESPN would do well to distance themselves from this quickly. It was completely out of place, completely irrelevant to the story, and drenched in hatred. ESPN Magazine may also want to rethink their relationship with him. Having someone so willing to show their inner darkness in a senior position is not the best marketing strategy. This story has shown how caring and supportive people can be, but it has also shown how ugly some people's thoughts are. Unfortunately, Chris Broussard fall into the latter category.
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