Metro Pulse/Sports/Merry Christmas, Mr. Kitna

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The NFL needs to cut the crap

by Tony Basilio

Since we are celebrating the Holiday/Christmas season or, in some cases, the Christmas Holiday season, it's time to shine the light on the NFL, which gave out a pretty unique present last week. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna was fined $5,000 by the league for wearing a ball cap in post-game interviews that was forbidden by the league's code of uniform conduct. Kitna made the egregious error of wearing a baseball cap that featured a Christian Cross. Merry Christmas Mr. Kitna!

Watch a Sunday of NFL football games and compare it to a Sunday from a decade and a half ago. What you see these days looks like an anesthetized version of Boys Gone Wild. Football, the ultimate team game, has devolved in many ways into a glorified fantasy game where guys at skill positions such as quarterback, wide receiver and running back seem more concerned about their personal stats than what is actually going on during the game.

It's appalling how many times guys literally get up and celebrate after running the ball for an 8 yard gain or an innocuous catch. These guys look like cheerleaders on steroids. It's all about them. Fines don't work as a deterrent for this behavior. Instead of scorn, these guys are greeted with endorsement deals and a public that celebrates this silly selfishness. We eschew team spirit for me spirit.

Which brings us to the spiritual man Jon Kitna. Without a doubt, Kitna is the greatest NFL reclamation project this side of Kurt Warner, who ironically was also a devout Christian. Kitna credits his turnaround this season to his faith in Christ stabilizing him during the tough times. He came to Cincinnati to apparently play out the string of a non-descript, journeyman career.

This season, he was simply to be the opening act for Carson Palmer, the overall #1 pick in the NFL draft. He was in the Queen City to teach Palmer the ropes. Kitna would then turn the position over perhaps at mid-season, as the Bengals, the worst professional franchise in all of sports in the last 15 years, would struggle to a 13-loss season. That was as good as it was going to get for these guys. A funny thing happened for Kitna on the way to the unemployment line. His season has turned him into a franchise quarterback while the Bengals are in a position to make the playoffs.

So, with the increased visibility the team has received from the national media, comes increased coverage and scrutiny. 'So, Jon, how does it feel to be having this type of year? How do you explain it?' To the thousands of inquiries along these lines, Kitna has consistently given the glory to God. This really annoys the media. They want controversy and finger pointing. Apparently, Kitna's M.O. annoys the NFL as well.

This is a league that sees some players flash gang symbols after touchdowns with regularity. The television cameras are there to record this nonsense week after week. This is a league where guys like Terrell Owens party after touchdowns like it's 1999 all over again. Now these clowns like Owens, Joe Horn etc. are trying to outdo each other with regards to who performs the most elongated celebration after scores.

Owens has grabbed pom-poms from cheerleaders and danced with them. He has also pulled a Sharpie out of his sock during the game and signed a ball after a TD catch. Horn had the gall to have a teammate pull a cell phone from the padding that adorns a goal post in the Superdome so he could call his son after a TD catch a couple of weeks back versus the Giants. Some in the sports business industry say that Horn's antics, which drew a measly $30,000 fine from the league, will lead to endorsements thus making him a more marketable commodity. Then there's one of Kitna's receivers, Chad Johnson, who scored a TD in a recent game and grabbed a sign that he had made stating 'Hey Mr. Commissioner, please don't fine me for this celebration.'

Shenanigans like this go on in the NFL with regularity so the league torpedoes Kitna for wearing a ball cap with a cross on it. It seems the league needs a little more cross and a lot less crap. If Kitna was wearing any other hat, do you think the NFL would've gone after him? What if he would've worn an 'X' hat as several guys did several years back during the release of the Spike Lee film on Malcolm X? What if Kitna had a college cap on or one denoting his favorite NASCAR driver? Upon finding out about the fine, a stunned Kitna told the media in Cincinnati that he has been wearing the cap for the last several years. Only no one noticed as he toiled in anonymity.

In all fairness to the NFL, the league is trying to tighten up its image through requiring guys to wear only NFL licensed merchandise while in uniform or immediately after games during interviews. Here's an idea: How about coming up with a line of hats that feature team colors and logos with a cross so guys like Kitna can let folks know, if they choose, where they stand. The league needs to figure out a way to let the Kitna's of the world express themselves in a time where role model types are sadly few and far between. Despite its hesitation in these ever increasing times of political correctness, it won't hurt the NFL to let a little more God into the game!

Tune in and talk sports with "The Tony Basilio Show" each weekday from 3-6 p.m. on the network (670 WMTY-AM, 850 WKVL-AM, 1140 WLOD-AM, 1290 WATO-AM, or 1400 WGAP-AM).