Franco Harris gets fired for speaking out against the firing of Joe Paterno

For his support of Joe Paterno in the wake of Paterno's firing from Penn State following the Jerry Sandusky sexual assault scandal, Steeler legend Franco Harris has been fired as a spokesperson for the Meadows racetrack and casino. Harris also agreed to temporarily step down as chairman of the Pittsburgh Promise following an email from Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl asking him to resign from the volunteer position. Here's a portion of the email: "I had to re-read it several times to fully comprehend the callous disregard and indifference for the victims of sexual abuse at Penn State," Mr. Ravenstahl stated in the email."To so adamantly and vocally defend one man while maintaining silence for those powerless to defend themselves, shows me that you are the wrong man to represent the Pittsburgh Promise and the ideals it embodies."

I guess I can see both sides of this. About a month ago, I wrote a post saying that ESPN had a right to fire Hank Williams' Jr. following his inflammatory remarks about President Obama. I still feel that way. Hey, if you're a spokesperson for a company and you say something that might put that company in a bad light, that company has every right to terminate whatever agreement you may have with them. And with Franco Harris, the organizations he represented had every right to act the way they did. However, I just don't think it was necessary in this case. I mean, how much negativity could Franco Harris really have brought to the organizations he was representing just because he spoke out against the Paterno firing? Not much, in my opinion. And with regards to Ravenstahl's email, wow! He all but accused Harris of condoning child molestation. I mean, let's get real here. All Franco did was defend his old college coach, a man he's known for over 40 years, because he thought he got a raw deal. He didn't defend Jerry Sandusky. You may disagree with Harris' defense of Paterno (I do), but that's just his opinion. In-terms of this whole Penn State scandal, Franco Harris is pretty far on the periphery of events.

Oh well, that's just how it goes. I just hope Franco still realizes that he'll always be one of the biggest and most popular sports heroes Pittsburgh has ever seen.

Whoops, I just defended Franco Harris who defended Joe Paterno. Does this mean that I.......ahhhhh, nobody cares what I think.