OUTSIDE THE LINES {JAMIE KUNTZ} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of programs which looks at issues and personalities in the sports world.
This installment concerns a controversy surrounding Jamie Kuntz, a football player at North Dakota State College of Science, who was dismissed from the team after kissing his boyfriend in a press box during a game. The issues surrounding Kuntz’s dismissal are complex, particularly at a time when the sport of football’s attitudes about homosexuals are in flux. He played as a linebacker on the team with hopes of eventually going on to play in a Division 1 NCAA team and then the NFL. His time with his team was brief and largely uneventful until a game at Colorado State University. Kuntz was recovering from an injury at the time and was thus unable to play, but travelled with the team anyway in order to help film the game for the coach. The players on the field were able to see him through the press box windows, where they noticed him interacting with an unidentified older man, and soon the two of them began kissing. This proved to be quite a surprise to all of them, as Kuntz kept his homosexuality secret from them for fear of being kicked off of the team. He notes that he did kiss the man, whom he describes as his boyfriend, several times during the game, but at no point were they “making out.” After the game, Kuntz was confronted by head coach Chuck Parsons, and Kuntz lied, claiming that the man with him was his grandfather and that nothing inappropriate happened; again, he lied for fear of being expelled from the team.
Two days after the game, Parsons dismissed Kuntz from the team and sent him a letter to that effect. The letter claims that Kuntz’s actions were “a distraction” and criticized him for his dishonesty. Much of the NDSCS coaching staff supported Parsons’s decision. Kuntz felt that his teammates and coaches would not accept his homosexuality, and would also not understand the fact that his boyfriend was much older than him. He discusses his attraction to the man; he declines to be interviewed so as not to disclose his sexual orientation publicly. Kuntz goes public with his story, and the story leads some to believe that NDSCS has a homophobic attitude. However, the school alleges that Kuntz’s behavior in the press box was far more inappropriate than was previously indicated, and several players seem to corroborate these claims; they believe that Kuntz may have participated in oral sex at some point during the game. Kuntz is asked about this and reiterates his story, denying the more explicit allegations. However, a DVD of Kuntz’s footage of the game features sexually explicit dialogue between him and his boyfriend, casting suspicion on him. However, Kuntz insists that the dialogue is nothing more than conversation and not indicative of anything illicit.
Furthermore, while he knows that he violated team policy he feels he is being unfairly singled out, and that if he had been with a woman that he would have been allowed to remain on the team. The school insists otherwise, stating that they would have reacted in the same manner if Kuntz had been with a woman. Kuntz merely wants to return to college athletics but is not being permitted to, and is concerned about the “baggage” he takes with him for being the center of a nationally-reported controversy. ESPN Magazine writer LZ Granderson, Outsports.com co-founder Jim Buzinski, University of Maryland journalism professor Kevin Blackistone, and (via telephone) Vikings punter and gay rights advocate Chris Kluwe discuss the issue further. Many of them agree that a “double standard” is in place concerning Kuntz’s dismissal, and that discipline was not enforced fairly to Kuntz compared to his teammates. They also discuss the general state of attitudes in the sports world towards homosexual players and gay rights issues, particularly in the “environment of tolerance” which is slowly being cultivated. They also comment on the reaction of NDSCS and how it reflects on the attitudes of the school and the state of North Dakota in general. There is a discussion of why more athletes do not come out as gay, and whether a singular major figure coming out is necessary in order to foster acceptance amongst the public. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ESPN
- DATE: December 16, 2012
- RUNNING TIME: 0:23:33
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 116640
- GENRE: Sports
- SUBJECT HEADING: LGBT Collection; Sports
- SERIES RUN: ESPN - TV series, 1990-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Bob Ley … Host
- Tom Farrey … Reporter
- LZ Granderson … Guest
- Jim Buzinski … Guest
- Kevin Blackistone … Guest
- Chris Kluwe … Guest
- Jamie Kuntz … Interviewee
- Davion Stackhouse … Interviewee
- John Richman … Interviewee
- Stu Engen … Interviewee
- Shamir Akhdar … Interviewee
- Chuck Parsons