Izzoiz.com | College Football Player Kicked Off Team After Kissing His Boyfriend: It was detrimental to team…Wtf?

College Football Player Kicked Off Team After Kissing His Boyfriend: It was detrimental to team…Wtf?

09-11-2012 | 2 Comments | Izzoiz

Jamie Kuntz a football player for North Dakota State College of Science, was kicked off the team for kissing his boyfriend during a game. Jamie was on the sidelines due to a previous concussion. The team asked him to film the game while he watch. His boyfriend who drove from Denver to Pueblo to be with Kuntz during the game.

“We were getting destroyed,” says Kuntz, “the game was a total blowout. And I guess I got bored and so I kissed my boyfriend and some of my teammates saw us.”

Coach, Chuck Parsons, later confronted him about the alleged kiss and at first Jamie denied it. Which is understandable.

On the ride home, Kuntz apparently tweeted some messages that made some teammates concerned he might attempt suicide and the police were called. Once they determined he wasn’t suicidal, Kuntz send Parsons a message admitting he was gay and had kissed his boyfriend in the press box. He also apologized for lying.

The next day Parsons called him into his office and told him he was off the team: “He said he didn’t care what people did in their personal lives but it was a big mistake to do that on a football trip,” said Kuntz. “I said, yeah, I made a big mistake and I apologized again for lying. Then he handed me a letter and said he was kicking me off the team because what I did was ‘detrimental’ to the team and I was a ‘distraction.’”

Kuntz sent the letter to Dan Savage, who then posted it on the Stranger:

“The head coach reserves the right to dismiss any team member for any conduct that is deemed detrimental to the team. This includes, but is not limited to, any criminal charges or convictions; violations of school policies, NDSCS athletic policies, or NDSCS Wildcat Football policies… Lying to Coaches, Teachers, or other school staff [constitute a violation].”

“This decision was arrived at solely on the basis of your conduct during the football game… and because you choose not to be truthful with when I confronted you about whom else was in the box with you.”

So we get that there are “rules” and policies that as a player you must follow. However lying about kissing someone and getting kick off the team seems a bit extreme. Not to mention the homophobic atmosphere of the sports world (which we have seen is slowly changing). Calling the kiss “detrimental to the team” is a bit homophobic. Would Parsons have made the same claim to a straight player kissing his girlfriend? I think it is safe to say no.

With all that being said, here is where the coach’s actions come into serious question and looks more to be more motivated by homophobia than the fact that he lied about the kiss.

Kuntz told Savage, that other teammates have been caught drinking and going into 21-and-over clubs. Others have criminal charges and convictions, both misdemeanors and felonies, and have remained active players.

We smell some bullshitz here…

Now there is one more little nugget to this story, Kuntz 65-years-old.

“When my coach pulled me off the bus that night and asked me who that was with me in the press box,” Kuntz says, “I said, ‘Oh, that was my grandpa up there with me. I wasn’t kissing my grandpa, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’”

Kuntz was 18 when and his boyfriend met online.

“I definitely pursued him,” says Kuntz. “He’s a great guy. I love him.”

Kuntz has dropped out of NDSCS and is living at home and deciding his options.

ps. What 65 yr old would not want to tap that… what a cutie.