There is surely no excusing San Jose Earthquakes forward Alan Gordon for his word choice, toxic and costly, Sunday in Portland.
He will ultimately miss four matches, three for a rash outburst that included a gay slur, and one more for his unrelated expulsion from the Earthquakes’ 1-0 loss in Oregon.
While there can be no excusing, it’s difficult not to respect the way Gordon is reacting and the way he has handled the incident. He isn’t just issuing hollow, carefully crafted apologies through the team or through handlers. Gordon is copping to his harmful actions and then some, sounding genuinely disappointed in himself.
He talked to the San Jose Mercury News about Major League Soccer’s latest, unfortunate dealing with homophobic language caught on national TV.
I am the furthest thing from being homophobic. That’s why it hurt. I can honestly appreciate the sensitively of the word if I put myself in other people’s shoes. That has not come out of my mouth since high school. It’s not language I use. It’s despicable.”
As we suggested yesterday, Gordon acknowledged that he immediately understood the weight of his actions, and probably the repercussions ahead.
There’s a lot of good information in the Mercury News piece, including Gordon getting in touch with Robie Rogers to apologize for the outburst. The Earthquakes’ striker also talks about setting examples for his children, and how that part is so personally disappointing.
