Reggie White:  1961 - 2004

America lost a great man yesterday.

Reggie White, former NFL standout defensive end with the Philadelphia Eagles & Green Bay Packers, died yesterday of an as yet unknown ailment.  He was only 43.

I admit it - I used to hate his guts, simply because he played for the Beagles.  Then, when he signed with Green Bay, I merely disliked him a little - because...you know...he played for the Packers, and I'm a Cowboys fan.

After the first time he retired, I developed a great respect for him, for he was an ordained minister.  When he came out against homosexuality, I stood on my feet and cheered.  But when he later apologized  for his comments, I lost a little bit of the respect I'd had for him, but still appreciated that he'd come out against the tide of political correctness that's saturated our culture.

Which brings me to my rant.  The AP-Yahoo obiturary had this blurb about Reggie:

White's reputation was later tarnished somewhat by a speech in which he denounced homosexuality and used ethnic stereotypes, comments he later apologized for.

Got news for you, morons:  Unlike you asshats, it wasn't the remarks about the heterophobia that tarished his image with us right-thinkers - it was the apology afterwards.

Homosexuality is wrong; it has always been  wrong; it will always be  wrong.  And we need more role models like Reggie White to come out and call it what it is:  A perversion, pure and simple.  And had we more people like Reggie White, this planet would be a far better place in which to live.

You will be missed, Mr. White.