Actions of athletes, coach reveal true colors

This is about true colors. It’s about who rocks ’em and who mocks ’em. It’s about the Giants and the Rays and the Dodgers, about Tiger and Phil, about Jon Gruden and Jack Del Rio.

Once you fly your true colors, for better or worse, intentionally or accidentally, they fly forever.

For instance, we are now crystal clear on the Cleveland Browns’ stance on domestic violence. We know where Phil Mickelson stands on Morality vs. Moolah.

You can try for a mulligan, like Del Rio did. The Washington Commanders’ defensive coordinator apologized for his astounding idiocy, but he was using a squirt gun to attack a fire of his own making.

In a recent media session, Del Rio called the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol a “dustup.” It actually hurt to type that word. People died. Police offers were brutalized and beaten by rioters bent on overturning American democracy, perhaps lynching the vice president as a side project.

Del Rio quickly apologized, because publicly sticking to his personal beliefs would have cost him his job. He weaseled out of a horrifying statement. Or tried to. We saw into his heart, and can’t unsee what we saw. He will live forever as Dustup Del Rio.

True colors can be beautiful. The San Francisco Giants began flying theirs in 1994, when they held their first Until There’s a Cure Day, to raise awareness and money for HIV/AIDS. They were the first pro sports team to celebrate or recognize what would come to be known as the LGBTQ+ community.

The Giants wore red-ribbon patches on their uniforms. Barry Bonds and Rod Beck were outspoken supporters of the day and the cause.

The second year of “Until,” Giants pitcher Mark Dewey declined to join his teammates’ on-field celebration, citing his religious beliefs. That brings us to last Saturday,

when the Giants wore caps with the SF logo in Pride colors, and a Pride patch on their jersey sleeves. The Giants, Dodgers and Rays are the only MLB teams to recognize Pride Month with symbolic uniform decoration.

(The A’s will host their annual Glenn Burke Pride Night on June 17, and will donate to Oakland Pride and the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center.)

This column was written before Saturday’s Giants game, but it appeared unlikely that any Giants player would sit out the festivities ala Dewey. A source close to the workings of the team told me that if a player did object to wearing the symbols, he would be invited to have a conversation with manager Gabe Kapler, and ultimately would be free to opt out of wearing the symbols.

But the Giants hoped for 100% participation.

“It’s the team’s uniform of the day,” the source said. “It’s like when all the players wear ‘42’ on Jackie Robinson Day.”

I disagree on that point. If a player objects to wearing “42,” he is opposing integrated baseball. There’s no religious cover for that. Declining to participate in a Pride celebration, however ignorant and small-minded that may seem to many of us, can apparently fall into the category of religious freedom.

When the Rays had their Pride celebration last week, five pitchers declined to wear the rainbow colors on their caps and jerseys. Their spokesman, Jason Adam, said their stance was due to their belief in Jesus Christ, who’s “encouraged us to live a lifestyle that would abstain from that behavior.”

Wouldn’t it be awkward if Adam were to show up at the Pearly Gates one day and be informed that Jesus is gay? Hey, the Bible doesn’t specify.

Our country’s religious freedom includes the right to believe that your God or gods frown on the “lifestyle” (Adam’s word) of the people He/ She/They created.

The five Rays’ refusal to participate also falls under the banner of freedom of speech, cited by supporters (including me) of Colin Kaepernick’s kneel-down protests.

One good thing about flying true colors is that it helps identify who’s who. One of the burdens of being an LGBTQ+ person in an intolerant society, I’m guessing, is not knowing people’s hearts.

Let’s say you are a gay man who plays for the Rays. Now you don’t have to wonder which of your teammates frowns on your “lifestyle.” No more guesswork! No more being fooled. Imagine how many of Gruden’s players over the years, or his fans out there in TV land, believed he was just a super-cool dude who likes and respects everyone. Now we know the truth. It’s painful, but educational. We learn so much when true colors are flown. Golf is the poster sport for that kind of revelation.

Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and several other top pros jumped into bed with the Saudi Arabian government, joining the Saudi-financed LIV Golf tour. The purses are large, the signing-bonus money astounding.

Mickelson reportedly got $200 million from LIV just to show up, and Johnson got $125 million. It’s blood money, but it spends like crazy, and lord knows, Mickelson and the fellas need the cash.

You know whose true colors shined the brightest this weekend, which marked the first event of that Check Your Soul at the Door World Tour? Tiger Woods.

Woods reportedly turned down nearly one billion dollars to tee it up with the Saudi crew. Woods hasn’t spoken out against Mickelson’s Mercenaries, but has made it clear which side he’s on, and he did have to make a choice.

On behalf of all of us who are perpetually curious, I want to thank all these folks for flying their true colors, whether they wanted to or not.