Athletic Rebels: Organizing the Jocks for Justice

By Dave Zirin
Created Dec 2 2006 - 7:32am

It started out like your typical pro football player puff piece. But then,
tucked away drowsily in the last paragraph, Baltimore Ravens defensive
lineman Adalius Thomas, emerged with something to say. As Sports
Illustrated's Peter King wrote,

"[Thomas] is politically alert, and not afraid to express his views, which
makes him a rarity in the NFL. 'What's the Iraq war all about?' he said, his
voice rising. 'If it's about oil, just say that. Don't give us this Weapons
of Mass Destruction crap when all you find is three firecrackers.'

'You get a little fired up about that,' he was told.

'We all have brains,' he said. 'We should use them.'"

The message was clear: Whether you're an offensive tackle, a trash talking
quarterback, or Dick Cheney: don't mess with Big Adalius.