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Don Jones learns from poor judgement

Daytona Fin

Daytona Fin

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For a few weeks this spring, Don Jones was the NFL’s face of intolerance.

And all it took was a couple of disapproving words on Twitter about Michael Sam.

What hasn’t been said, until now: Jones has a gay brother. And their relationship, in his words, is “a great one.”

“I don’t have [a] problem with gay [people],” Jones told the Miami Herald on Thursday. “Shoot, I do have a bunch of family members that are gay. My brother, my cousins. I never really had a problem.”

Those shades of grey were lost draft weekend back in May, when Jones tweeted “omg” and “horrible” after seeing Sam kiss his partner after becoming the first openly gay picked by an NFL team.

The Dolphins, still hurting from their ugly bullying scandal, acted quickly. They condemned Jones’ remarks; coach Joe Philbin called them “inappropriate and unacceptable” in a team release.

And they fined Jones, a second-year defensive back, and suspended him from team activities until he completed sensitivity trainin
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“I didn’t intend to mean [any] harm to it,” Jones said. “I just made a bad mistake. I had to learn from it.”

The blowback, internally and externally, caught Jones by surprise. But once the team explained to him why his words were divisive and inappropriate, he agreed to the time away.

That education included seven sessions with a sensitivity counselor, running four hours each. In all, Jones was away from the team for 10 days.

“I learned I can’t be judgmental,” Jones said. “I have to respect what everybody’s doing.”

Said Philbin: “All the feedback we got from the educational piece was very positive. He’s been a good teammate throughout, since he returned to the team. I think he’s a thoughtful individual. I think he understands the impact that actions and words can have on others. He’s really done well.”
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Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/31/4264938/miami-dolphins-don-jones-humbled.html#storylink=cpy
 
Canadianfishfan said:
I forgot that even happened.

Just like we're going to forget all about Michael Sam if he doesn't make the team in St. Louis.
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Jones tweeted 'omg' 'horrible' after Sam and his boyfriend (on live TV), smeared cake all over each others faces, began to kiss and lick cake off each other.
 
There is a very keenly contested dogfight for backup Safety positions. Rookie Walt Aikens is being given chances in Training Camp vs Don Jones vs Michael Thomas vs Jordan Kovacs. All have to contribute to Special Teams. Thomas and Kovacs are also two of the highest character guys on the team.
Two players will probably miss out. Michael Thomas is beloved after his great interception to win the game against the Patriots, but he has to play well in the preseason to hold his spot. I think Jones may be in trouble to hold his roster spot. Good to hear that he learned from his judgmental tweet. An important life lesson.
 
only lesson needed to be learned here is not to tweet anything.
 
Somehow Ray Rice straight KO's his gf and gets two games? That was some bs. Don Jones shouldn't have said that, but he took too much flack for it IMO. But in my other opinion, players should just not use social media if they can't control themselves. It's starting to ruin the game when you are seeing players suspended and **** for saying something stupid.
 
I just wonder if Ryan and Lauren smeared cake on each other then started kissing and licking off the cake would another player be in trouble for saying "that's disgusting." It sounds like Jones had a problem with the action taking place more than the fact it was two men. People just assume it was gay bashing when it could have simply been someone being offended by too much of a public display of affection."
 
gregorygrant83 said:
I just wonder if Ryan and Lauren smeared cake on each other then started kissing and licking off the cake would another player be in trouble for saying "that's disgusting." It sounds like Jones had a problem with the action taking place more than the fact it was two men. People just assume it was gay bashing when it could have simply been someone being offended by too much of a public display of affection."
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A lot of people don't have any problem with gays but don't want to see gay physical displays. It doesn't mean that they are hateful or intolerant of people and their rights, it just means they find the display disgusting in a non-bigoted way. There are some who dislike any PDA and that certainly doesn't mean they are hateful and intolerant of straight people.
 
Hope his brother and cousins are alright with his comments.

It's pretty ridiculous that you can no longer voice your opinion unless its mainstream. Its what happens when you create a society of victims.
 
Don Jones learned you can't say what you truly mean, even though hundreds of thousands of people agree with him.
 
This is the biggest mountain made out of a mole hill! Michael Sam has made his sexuality a public spectacle so he needs to accept the blowback that comes with it. From ll the ridiculous predraft coverage to his current Oprah Network crap! My industry tends to attract people of Sam's sexuality and there are those that want to shove it in everyone's face, and those that are as reserved about their personal life as most of society. The later of the 2 are amazing people and usually some of the best to work with, and if you ask them can't stand people like Sam that make a spectacle of being gay. They flat out tell you they just want to be seen as equal/normal and actions like those make it impossible.

The reality is Sam might say he just wants to be seen as a normal football player, BUT he really doesn't! If he did he wouldn't have made his sexuality a spectacle. He could have simply addressed it and moved on, he didn't and that probably is the major reason he slid to the 7th round from his 4th round grade. Teams just don't want to deal with the distraction, Tony Dungy said it and now he is taking flak for it.

Jones was right smearing cake and sucking it off each others face was disgusting! It was unnecessary and extreme! It was obviously staged for the camera and a blatant act to cause a media **** storm. Over 200 other men where drafted that weekend and I don't remember one seen even remotely close to Sam's?

Someone ask if the Tanehills did it would it be considered gross? No it would be considered classless! Which is why they and many others didn't do it they have class!

Sam needed only to worry about showing the world his skill on a football field nothing more!
 
I know this won't be a popular point of view but, if Jones didn't mean any harm as he says, I wonder what he meant by "OMG. Horrible"? I'm not as young as I used to be so maybe it's like the word "Phat" meaning something is really really great nowadays. But nobody seems to have tried to use that angle to defend his words.
He absolutely meant harm. What he didn't intend was to be taken to task over what he said so severely. So at least he learned not to Tweet his opinion when it is disparaging to others, especially large groups.
 
On a side note, watching Don Jones retreat with his comments about friends and family being homosexuals sounds exactly like a person who has been caught telling racist jokes all of a sudden saying all of his friends are from other races. Pathetic. He really should just tell the press when he's asked about this whole thing that he has learned his lesson, and offer no further comment. I just don't think he is clever enough to spin this into a positive.

Flame away, I know the prevailing opinion.
 
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