Debbie Schlussel: NFL Super Bowl's "Family Values": Meet Larry Foote
We've written about the man we think is the REAL role model of the Super Bowl, Capt. Bryce Fisher of the Seattle Seahawks and the U.S. Air Force.
But meet the "new" kind of role model the NFL is promoting: Larry Foote of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will play in today's Super Bowl.
The NFL claims he's a "hero" because he is taking care of his son. While that's nice, it is hardly "heroic". And there are some pretty jarring details in the whole unsavory story.
The 25-year-old Foote only found out about his kid, Trey-veion, a year and a half ago. The son is now age ten. That means Foote conceived this kid when he was about age 14. Splendid.
Then there's these prize quotes from a USA Today profile of Foote's "new, unexpected role of father":
Confirmation from the [paternity] test took about three weeks. Foote, who was engaged at the time immediately took custody of Trey-veion. He never considered merely offering financial support. Trey-veion's mother has five other children.
She is a single mother, and it's a good bet the other five are from multiple different fathers. Ain't life in the hood grand.
Then there's this:
Foote doesn't believe he has other children waiting to be claimed. "I hope not," he said. "I'm quite sure that just with the publicity we've had, if there were, it would have come out by now."
Like we said, meet Larry Foote, new NFL Super Bowl "role model." Not too mention, Snoop Dogg, who is prominent in this weekend's NFL and Super Bowl sponsor activities.
(We note, also, that Foote, is wearing a U.S. Marines shirt with medals in the picture accompanying the USA Today profile. Yet, he never served in the Marines. Hmmm . . . . Contrasts very nicely with Capt. Fisher who wears the uniform for the right reasons.)
Posted by Debbie on February 5, 2006 04:39 PM to Debbie Schlussel