Houston Texans cornerback Kareem Jackson is in some moral hot water this week, as his vacation to the Dominican Republic took a turn for the moronic after he Tweeted pictures of himself at a cockfight. While cockfighting is perfectly legal in the Dominican, that doesn’t relieve Jackson of the scrutiny he will face back here within the moral fabric of the U.S. of A. And he should be scrutinized because he’s a professional athlete, a prominent figure in his community, he makes more than $3 million a year (with more than $10 million of his contract guaranteed) and countless other athletes and celebrities have paved the way with their own forms of stupidity with animals. Has Richard Gere taught us nothing?
So what were the Tweets that have brought this attention to the guy who had 71 tackles and 2 interceptions in his rookie year for one of the NFL’s worst defenses?
“My first time ever seeing chicken fight till the death it was crazy… “
“Look at all these people that be at these chicken fights, you would think its a college football game.”
As people are flying off the handle already, it’s not like he Tweeted, “Hey everyone, get down here and watch me f*cking kill this chicken!” Jackson is 22 years old and signed his first contract less than a year ago. I don’t even need to survey 100 22-year old millionaires to tell you that at least 90 of them would attend a cockfight in the Dominican Republic. Now I’m not saying it’s right by any means, but as Pedro Martinez already showed us, bird sh*t happens down there. When Jackson gets back – if he’s not back already; sorry I don’t follow him on Four Square – he’s going to have to deal with some image rebuilding and PETA will be waiting at the front gates of Reliant Stadium.
Now does this make him any different than Panamanian soccer player Luis Moreno, who recently kicked an owl to its death during a match? It depends. If Jackson actually dropped a chicken into the cocktagon (trademarked) then it’s no different. But until we know more, Moreno has hooter blood on his hands, so he is worse. So let it be written, so let bird law justice be done.
(Image and Tweets via CBS Houston)
