Buck Burnette: A Hard Lesson, but Fair?

Last week, Texas backup center Buck Burnette was dismissed from the team for violating unspecified team rules. Later, we found out his dismissal is due to a racial slur posted on his Facebook profile after Barack Obama was elected president.

Now, on one hand, how a person sees the world doesn’t effect how he plays football. Even though he might be terribly prejudiced (and probably still is, even if he did issue an official statement of apology via the AP), that’s the risk of freedom in America. In other words, EVERYONE is free to express their opinions, not just the people who are tolerant.

That said, I’m a believer that this dismissal was fair. While he certainly has a right to his opinion, as a football player for a major college team, he is in the spotlight. I’m sure he had NFL dreams someday, and at that level, he’d be in an even brighter spotlight. Football players are minor celebrities, and on top of that, they are role models. Yes, you can have an opinion, but it is important to make responsible choices about expressing your opinions. He could have been critical of the election results without using racial slurs.

I do think this is a hard decision. Burnette is a a sophomore, which means that he’s probably only 19 or 20 years old. Who hasn’t made a stupid remark at that age without thinking? This is definitely a tough lesson to learn, but one that I’m sure he’ll carry with in.

Weigh in with a comment below. Was his dismissal fair?

Picture via Newscom.