Pro Football Weekly host Dan
Hampton will apologize on-air for an anti-gay remark made during
Sunday's broadcast.
Hampton earned his 2002 Pro Football
Hall of Fame induction after a 12-year career with the Chicago Bears.
The syndicated show is co-hosted by
Hampton, Pro Football Weekly publisher-editor Hub Arkush,
Chicago sportscaster Pat Boyle and Tom Waddle, a former Chicago Bears
player.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD) demanded an apology from Hampton for suggesting
the Dallas Cowboys are gay.
“The Cowboys think they are Clint
Eastwood; they're more of the Brokeback variety, if you know
what I'm talking about,” he told viewers, referring to the gay
cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain.
In asking for an apology, GLAAD said
such comments encourage anti-gay violence.
“Hampton was a tremendous player for
the Chicago Bears throughout the 1980s, he's a member of the Pro
Football Hall of Fame, he's a television personality, and whether he
likes it or nor, he's a role model. Every day, millions of kids
across this country are harassed, bullied and beaten because of
attitudes like this. Hampton should not be using this platform to
encourage homophobia.”
According to a posting on GLAAD's
website, the former NFL player will lead Sunday's broadcast with an
apology for the remark.
“Arkush said 'it shouldn't have
happened' and assured GLAAD that similar incidents will not happen
again,” the group wrote.