BA believes he was cut partially because of his activism

**RavenScallywag** · 04-04-2013, 10:54 PM

Originally Posted by Ravenboy2003

Isn't the Harbaugh clan all hardcore Catholics? Makes you wonder what John thought of BA's gay marriage agenda. The Catholic church at least pretends to be opposed. Even though I'm pretty sure plenty of priests lean that way..

Political debate aside...Doubtful the Ravens would get rid of a guy for their beliefs, even if they don't mesh with the HC or Ozzie or Bisciotti. Birk and BA were on opposite sides of that coin, they got along fine. BA even bought Birk a case of beer as a retirement gift for him.

**lobachevsky** · 04-04-2013, 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by Ravenboy2003

Isn't the Harbaugh clan all hardcore Catholics? Makes you wonder what John thought of BA's gay marriage agenda.

Whatever he thought, he (& the rest of the management) probably recognized that saying anything other than "we support the right of our players to have opinions on the issues of the day" would only aggravate the situation & distract from the common goal of winning the Super Bowl.

The Catholic church at least pretends to be opposed. Even though I'm pretty sure plenty of priests lean that way..

Gay marriage is not an issue for priests--since they can't get married to anyone & remain priests.

iggyman555 · 04-04-2013, 11:31 PM

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...e-from-ravens/

**NC Raven** · 04-04-2013, 11:34 PM

I printed out the cap spreadsheet a couple days after the Super Bowl. BA was one of the first guys I figured for a cut, along with Boldin and Leach. Things haven't played out exactly as I expected, but to say there is even any remote surprise about BA getting cut is ludicrous.

In fact when we talked about it on the board here, someone said he'd probably get cut, then brought back under some kind of veteran exemption (?), something where they don't count towards the cap or something? I don't know, but I know his salary was way too high for a ST tackler in his late 30s, who is no longer at all effective at his "listed" ILB position, and there was no way the Ravens were going to pay him all that in 2013 just to play special teams, even though he is still good at it. No question in my mind. Especially with the way some of these guys like Anthony Allen and David Reed emerged as expert ST tacklers this year.

I agree with his views and support him, but I also believe the Ravens supported him as well. He wasn't THAT controversial, and didn't garner THAT much attention. It was really a small, small sideline to the team as a whole and really didn't make an impact one way or the other on the team. This move was 100% football/salary.

**rd1z** · 04-04-2013, 11:36 PM

He is backtracking on twitter now.

**dweezil22** · 04-04-2013, 11:44 PM

Originally Posted by lovefootball

...If he came out , then he could get louder and claim he was release because he was gay...

Dude, just because he defends gay rights doesn't mean he's gay. He's straight, married and has two kids. He got into gay rights b/c he grew up in dorm full of gay students in California in the 80's (his dad worked there).

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--ra...152622969.html

iggyman555 · 04-04-2013, 11:50 PM

my question is why did oz wait this long, is this to make room to sign someone else????

**ActualSpamBot** · 04-04-2013, 11:53 PM

Originally Posted by rd1z

He is backtracking on twitter now.

Clarifying a vague comment that was taken out of context by a reporter desperate for a story isn't backtracking.

**mmi16** · 04-05-2013, 12:32 AM

37 YO Special Teams players get cut - no matter their outside football beliefs.

**Raven Werewolf** · 04-05-2013, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by Flipping Birdie

Beyond lame, 20 years dated, and probably offensive for the past 10 years or so. It's 2013.

With all that said, Brendon Ayanbadejo was cut because he's old. His advocacy was not an issue.

:word