Earlier this year, Jack Burkman, a little-known D.C. lobbyist made national headlines after issuing a publicity stunt-ish press release saying he had support from five members of the House and a Senator for a non-starter bill that would ban gay players from the NFL.
Said Burkman in a statement in the release:
”We are losing our decency as a nation. Imagine your son being forced to shower with a gay man. That's a horrifying prospect for every mom in the country. What in the world has this nation come to?”
"Burkman serves as founder and president of his own lobbying firm, Burkman Associates. He has also worked as of counsel at law firm Holland & Knight. In the 1990s, he served as counsel to then-Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.)," according to The Hill.
Yesterday, Burkman sent out a press release reacting to gay defensive end Michael Sam's possible entrance into the NFL during this week's draft, announcing that any team who chooses Michael Sam will face an immediate boycott from a national coalition of evangelical Christian leaders:
Jack Burkman, head of a top D.C. lobbying firm, who is pushing a bill that would ban openly gay players from the NFL and other professional sports, announced he will leverage his political clout to make sure that team gets roughed up financially.
“We shall exercise our First-Amendment rights and shall not stop until the drafting NFL franchise cannot sell a single ticket, jersey or autographed football,” says Burkman. “In short, we shall be relentless.”
Burkman LLC is now in the process of forming powerful grassroots organizations in 27 of the 50 states. He states that all of these organizations shall be vigorously deployed in the boycott. In addition, Burkman says his group is building a coalition of evangelical Christian leaders from across the nation to take part in a protest if Sam is drafted.
Although Burkman's “American Decency Act of 2014″ has been widely discussed by both national and local news outlets, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL team owners have so far refused to weigh in. Sam himself weighed in on Twitter.
“The NFL may not fear boycotts from the populist right,” Burkman said. “The NFL like most of the rest of American business is about to learn that when you trample the Christian community and Christian values, there will be a terrible financial price to pay.”
In related news, last night VISA debuted the first ad in a new sponsorship deal with Michael Sam. VISA realizes, as any NFL team should, that hiring Michael Sam (aside from his skills as a football player) is great for business.
