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At The White House: Towing the Line, Joey Porter meets Craig Hodges
Authored by Nana Kwamie - 31st May, 2006 - 9:54 pm
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About a month ago at Steelers mini-camp, Joey Porter caused a mini-controversy when he threatened to add George W. Bush to the growing list of recipients of his venom. Porter came out as unspoken as ever when asked about the club's upcoming trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
He said: "Yeah, I got something to say to Bush, I'm going to have a swagger when I walk in there, too," Porter said. "I'm looking forward to it. I have something to tell him, too. I don't like the way things are running right now. I feel like he has to give me some of my money back, so I got something to tell Bush."
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Which sounds about right: That's just Joey being Joey: brash, arrogant and unapologetic. But two weeks prior to the Steelers June 2nd visit, Porter did an about-face and came out with the standard, scripted cookie-cutter statement: "We will be guests of the president and I would never do anything to disrespect him," Porter said in the statement. "I consider our upcoming trip an honor and a dream come true. Our entire team is looking forward to visiting the White House and enjoying what promises to be the opportunity of a lifetime."
The truth is that he probably was just joking the first time. The truth is also that it would have been a lot more entertaining to see what would happen if Porter actually followed through on his idle threat. I'm sure that someone at the Steelers head office was unwilling to take the risk of embarrassment and had some words with Joey encouraging him go with the standard: 'blah, blah, honour, blah, blah, blah, dream come true, blah, blah, blah, opportunity of a lifetime' routine.
What could they possibly have told Joey that would make him change his mind? After all this is the indomitable Joey Porter and nobody messes with Joey Porter. Not even the President of the United States. Well maybe they sung him the ballad of Craig Hodges. That story goes something like this:
In 1991, Hodges showed up to the White House wearing a Dashiki, and instead of presenting Bush the Elder with a Chicago Bulls replica jersey, he presented him with an incendiary letter lambasting Bush on everything from his failed war on drugs and its destructive reverse effect on the black community, to Desert Storm and beyond.
Hodges was a socially concious athlete, which is both commendable and rare, but his outspoken nature and his association with the Nation of Islam led to his demise and subsequent expulsion from the league.
Craig Hodges was blacklisted by the NBA in 1993, after becoming the only player not named Larry Bird to win three consecutive 3 point contests. In the subsequent years, he couldn't even get a workout with NBA squad. He showed up to defend his crown at the 1993 All-Star Weekend in Utah wearing a bizarre-looking blank NBA jersey. He lost. He filed a federal lawsuit against the NBA and its 29 owners and lost that too. Hodges was exiled to the European leagues and eventually resurfaced back in America as the Head Coach at tiny Chicago State University.
"From a job security standpoint, I think a lot of athletes are scared to say what's on their minds," Hodges says. "During my career a lot of players would tell me behind closed doors that they supported what I was saying, but they would never be forthright and come out publicly with their support. Players are afraid of having what they've earned taken away from them."
The case of Craig Hodges shows that they should be.
The NFL is far more powerful force than the NBA in both the business and political arenas. Exhibit A: Since Paul Tagliabue has announced his upcoming retirement the league has courted both Condeleeza Rice and Jeb Bush to replace him as the next commissioner. Unlike in past instances, Porter was careful when biting the hand that feeds.
Politcally, the situation in 2006 Washington, very much resembles Washington circa 1991: A Bush in office, a sputtering economy, and unpopular war in Iraq, a Clinton looking run in the next election. But make no mistake; Joey Porter is not Craig Hodges.
Although Hodges was a great role player, he was an expendable one-dimensional player. The market for 6'3 shooting guards in the NBA isn't as large as we may want to think. Porter is not only the anchor of the Pittsburgh Steelers defence, but he is a co-captain.
Hodges' social consciousness and militant Black Nationalist Islam may represent a threat to the established status quo, but his ectomorphic physical presence is not nearly as menacing. Hodges is a wirey, 6'3 190 pounds and physical intimidation goes a long way. Joey Porter and his mesomorphic frame understands this fact both on and off the field. People know not to mess with Porter. He is physically intimidating just ask Willie Green's jaw. He is verbally intimidating: just ask Jerramy Stevens' pride and his bevy of dropped balls in Super Bowl XL. Just ask the NFL head offices, who were afraid to fine him after he blatantly charged the refs with cheating during last years Steelers-Colts playoff match up.
This time Joey Porter chose not to push his luck.
That begs the question: What do we want from our athletes? Do we want them to simply go out on the field and entertain us? Do we want them to be community leaders? Do we want them to fit a mould of tried and tested sports clichés. Should they challenge the status quo? Should they be outspoken? Should they be individuals or just pieces of a larger machine? Should we stop asking questions and just let the game speak for itself?
Probably the latter. But then again, it is June and we are in that barren no-man's-land between the NFL draft and training camp where there is nothing to do but twiddle our thumbs, furrow our brows and ask questions.
Joey Porter might have asked the question: ‘Is it worth it to try and take on the President of the United States? To which someone might have responded: ‘There's a reason why you've never heard of Craig Hodges before.’
