[Banfield:] More now on the firestorm surrounding a sports figure and perhaps an ill considered set of comments on a pretty sensitive topic. Guess what, I'm not talking about Donald Sterling right now. I'm talking about Don Jones, not the older man, the younger man. And by the way, that's not Don Jones either. But he's a safety for NFL's Miami Dolphins. And he's been fined and suspended for his reaction to a pivotal event in pro-football history. You probably heard or seen something about this. On Saturday, the University of Missouri's Michael Sam and there's Michael Sam he became the first openly gay NFL draftee, and smooch-a-roo. He was picked in the seventh round by the Saint Louis Rams, and the reaction might be the reaction anybody would do when you get to achieve your lifelong dream. You kiss the one you love. Just turns out that the one he loved is a man. Watching Sam kiss his boyfriend, Mr. Jones tweeted this, "OMG! horrible." And then a retired Houston Texan, Derek Ward, went further. Ward tweeted in part, "For him to do that on national TV is disgusting, gay or not. Man, you got little kids looking. I can't believe ESPN allowed that to happen." So Jones has since apologized for his "OMG horrible" thing. Ward says, for his part, he's been getting death threats, and he says his kids have too. Wrong! Come on, people. I want to talk about all of this with retired NFL offensive lineman Doug Dawson who joins me from Houston. We're also joined by the host of CNN's "UNGUARDED" With Rachel Nichols. It's Rachel Nichols herself. The reaction to the tweets was swift. The NFL did not wait. They brought the hammer down.
[Rachel Nichols, Cnn Host, Cnn's "unguarded":] The Miami Dolphins organization did, absolutely. And, look, this is their right. He can speak whatever he wants. But you know the expression, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here? They said, you can say whatever you want, but not as a member of our team, as a representative of our team. So they have suspended him. They've ordered him to get some counseling. And they have every right to do that, because let's face it. On that same Twitter account, Jones identifies himself as a member of the Miami Dolphins before he even says where he was born. The picture of him on that Twitter page is him in a Dolphins uniform. And let's face it, this is a team that has gotten itself into trouble in the past year. They had the Jonathan MartinRitchie Incognito scandal. They have been known for insensitivity and intolerance. They do not want to be the face of homophobia in the NFL, and they took a quick action to put a stop to it.
[Banfield:] And it's just fascinating how quickly it happened and what it says about teams today since this is such a watershed moment. Doug, weigh in on this as a player, with your history. Do you see this having played out the same way when you were playing professional ball? How have things changed? And what's the same?
[Doug Dawson, Former Nfl Offensive Lineman:] Well, I think the Miami Dolphins, like any great organization, are trying to create an environment that is inclusive and attractive for all high-performing employees, whether it's an athlete or another organization that just wants a great work environment for everybody. And so when I played in college and in the pros, I played with a couple of gay athletes, and for the most part, none of us really cared. All we really cared about was if they could help our team. All we cared about was how well they could compete and what kind of teammates they were, and we didn't really care if they were black, white, green, you know, what their sexual preference were, as long as they were a good teammate.
[Banfield:] So when you say creating an environment, that sort of just stuck out to me, that they're trying to create an environment. Do they have to, Doug, create the environment, or does the environment of acceptance exist in professional sports, but it's more like a don't ask, don't tell? I'm fine with the way you are. Just don't tweet it out.
[Dawson:] I think that with athletes, you know, forever, that's where nobody really cares what your personal life is like, as long as you're willing to, you know, play well on Sundays and compete. So I don't think for the most part athletes care. I don't think most people are really worried about it. I think they just want you to be a good teammate and come and work hard and play hard. So I think the environment, at least the guys that I played with and the guys that and my teammates, none of us really worried about things like that.
[Banfield:] Well, and money talks, too, because, Rachel, the news is breaking this morning that even though this young man was a, what, 249th pick, his rookie jersey sales are behind only Johnny Football's, OK.
[Nichols:] Yes.
[Dawson:] Oh, wow.
[Banfield:] And he's ahead of the number one draft pick, Jadeveon Clowney. So did that just does that put rest to all of this?
[Nichols:] Well, I mean, look, you had Jason Collins in the NBA. The week he came out not he came out, but the week he rejoined the NBA and joined the Brooklyn Nets, his jersey was ranked number one over LeBron James, over all the other stars in the NBA. And it shows that people are excited about this. You have 2,000 player in the NFL. You are never going to get all of them to think the same thing about anything.
[Banfield:] Yes.
[Nichols:] But I think we have seen there has been overwhelming support for Michael Sam. And he went to an organization that's a great fit for him.
[Banfield:] Right.
[Nichols:] Remember, that's where he played his college ball is Missouri.
[Banfield:] Can I just say this as well? Look, a lot of people tweeted out, what happened to free speech, what happened to the, you know, First Amendment? That stops you from going to jail and for the government coming after you. You can say whatever you want and then other people can weigh in and say what they want, financially, they can tweet whatever they want about you as well. And by the way, for anybody who put out a death threat to someone's children because of their reaction, please, come on, give it a rest. Cut it out.
[Nichols:] Well, the free speech argument is kind of what we've been saying about Donald Sterling, right?
[Banfield:] You just can't say, I'm going to kill your children. That's not fair.
[Nichols:] No. No.
[Banfield:] There's free speech and there's fair speech. I'm just going to leave it at that. Rachel, great to have you. Thank you, as always.
[Nichols:] Thank you.
[Banfield:] And, Doug, very nice to speak with you. Thank you for your time and your input today as well.
[Dawson:] Thank you.
[Banfield:] Another big story that we're following, Oscar Pistorius, the Olympian on trial for murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend. Today the prosecutors are asking for a psychiatrist to enter the picture, a new one, to evaluate this Olympic athlete. Could this delay the trial for a month or more? And, by the way, why are the psychiatrists weighing in now? We're at trial. Doesn't this usually happen well in advance of this stage? What's going on over there?