FOX Sports' Craig James is a former pro bowl running back for the Patriots and was a football broadcaster. That "was" could've been an "is" if it wasn't for the anti-gay comments he made during his run for Senate. FOX Sports Southwest cut ties with James after just one appearance because of those comments, spoiling his return to broadcasting after leaving ESPN to run for Senate.
James isn't going out quietly though. He's already lost the Senate battle—badly, as he finished fourth in the Republican primary—and he's trying not to come out of this venture a complete loser. James hired a lawyer after accusing FOX Sports of religious discrimination.
“I was shocked that my personal religious beliefs were not only the reason for Fox Sports firing me but I was completely floored when I read stories quoting FOX Sports representatives essentially saying that people of faith are banned from working at FOX Sports,” James says. “That is not right and surely someone made a terrible mistake.”
Except that's not true. FOX Sports said it fired James for the anti-gay comments. “We just asked ourselves how Craig’s statements would play in our human resources department. He couldn’t say those things here," a FOX Sports spokesman said to the Dallas Morning News.
Specifically, James said the controversial comments when he criticized another candidate for his stance on gay pride. He said being gay is a choice and homosexuals "are going to have to answer to the Lord for their actions.”
So who really made the "terrible mistake" here?
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[via Pro Football Talk]
