Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling spoke on NBC Sports’ “Dan Patrick Show” about his recent firing from ESPN for sharing his conservative political views on his Facebook page while working for the company.
Schilling said ESPN sent out memos about sticking to sports on their shows, which hosts like Stephen A. Smith and Tony Kornheiser ignored without consequence. He then added he thought the memo really meant to say was, “If you’re not liberal and you’re not a Democrat, do no stray from sports.”
“They sent out memos about, ‘Hey, listen, we want our sports people and talent to stick to sports and stay away from politics and all the other stuff.’ The next day Stephen A. Smith said Robert Griffin can’t play quarterback because he’s black; not because he sucks. Then you have Tony Kornheiser comparing the tea party to ISIS. So what I think the memo meant to say was, you know, ‘If you’re not liberal and you’re not a Democrat do not stray from sports,” Schilling explained. “So they did that and happened again and I kept trying to explain to them, ‘Listen, I get it to some extent, but I’m not doing this openly and outwardly anymore, this is something I’m commenting on and, you know…”
“The other piece that really jumped out at me was people were talking, you know the green room where everybody hangs out, it’s the ESPN version of the locker room, a lot of times people would come up to me and whisper, ‘Hey, man, I’m with you. I’m a Republican’ as if we were the secret card carrying members of some group that couldn’t be — that those who shall not be named. but, you know, the inclusiveness is inclusive as long as you’re pointing the same direction they are, otherwise it’s a problem,” he continued.
Schilling went on to later say in the interview that he is working to get a show where he can talk sports and politics.
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