Boston-based radio talk show gabber Fred “Toucher” Toettcher, of 98.5 The Sports Hub or WBZ-FM, offered some uninvited color commentary about the gathering of friends and family that were on hand to support Tim Tebow during the NFL draft last week.
As you might have heard, the former Heisman Trophy winner and University of Florida Gator quarterback Tebow was drafted in the first round, number 25, by the Denver Broncos. (Way to go, Tim!)
Toucher ‘joked’ that the group surrounding Tebow “looked like some kind of Nazi rally … so lily-white is what I’m trying to say. Yeah, Stepford Wives.”
Would Toucher have made such an impolitic, over-the-top comment about the folks (‘looked like an NAACP meeting’) surrounding, say, the amazing Gerald McCoy, who was the number three draft pick and was a stand-out defensive lineman for the University of Oklahoma?
Even if he had been so inclined, he shouldn’t have. These are private citizens, publicly sharing and peacefully celebrating a young man’s once-in-a-lifetime athletic accomplishment. Sliming such a moment shows what a classeless boor Toucher is.
It also shows him to be a bigot for singling out an unusually wholesome young man, and his family, known for their Christian beliefs, particularly their evangelistic missionary work in the Philippines. How many orphans have you fed and clothed today, Mr. Lily-white Couch Potato Sports Radio Jock?
And, hey, it’s not like Toucher is all that passionate about diversity. His co-host, Rich Shertenlieb, looks just like him. One can easily speculate that their listenership’s demographics also resemble this pair.
Interestingly, WBZ-FM is affiliated with CBS Radio.
Will management mete out the same punishment upon Toucher like they did to Don Imus for his unfortunate, racial comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team?
Don’t hold your breath. But, at the least, Toucher owes the Tebows a public apology.