Rays pitching prospect Heath Rollins was one of the surprise performers during Spring Training. He was one of the final cuts and was considered a contender for the final bullpen spot that eventually went to Mike Ekstrom.
In hindsight, maybe that was a good thing for Rollins. Because if he was in the big leagues, his Facebook page might soon become a very big story. We have no idea what prompted the following status update this morning, but his choice of words was questionable at best…
“Heath Rollins is a fag”
Of course, this could be high schoolish prank being played by a roommate or friend. If that is the case, this accentuates the dangers of athletes keeping Facebook pages or Twitter accounts. It is still Rollins’ page and it is his responsibility.
If this was Rollins own doing, we will probably never hear an apology from Rollins. The Rays, in their typical fashion, will likely talk to Rollins privately, while publicly, they will pretend like it never happened.
Rollins, the Rays 11th round pick in 2006, has made 3 appearances for Durham this year, allowing 7 runs (4 earned) in 6 innings.
34 Comments
Big deal. Have you never heard the song, “Money For Nothing”?
of course. but that was a different era. The N-word used to be acceptable also. Doesn’t make it ok now.
Maybe Heath is a member of the Film Actors Guild? Or maybe he fancies himself a cigarette?
Everytime I leave a putt short on the links I call myself a sissy….Is that the same?? Probably won’t use Fag… but my golf partner does!
I don’t get the point of your post. Are you upset that’s he’s used a derogatory term for a homosexual? Or do you think he’s actually using this forum to “out” himself?
This topic is gay…
Man, now the PC police don’t like it if you call yourself names. They told me if I voted for McCain this would happen.
Anyway, according to Merriam-Webster online dictionary a fag could be…
“an English public-school boy who acts as servant to an older schoolmate”
So who knows.
What geek writes an article about that? Obviously it was a prank by a friend. Get a life nerd.
the biggest sports website in the world wrote about when Joey Porter used the word. why cant Prof?
http://deadspin.com/221529/joey-porter-didnt-mean-to-offend-you-he-just-meant-to-offend-the-fag
actually I spend 30 seconds writing posts like this because I know it will piss off half-wits
Half is being a little generous, don’t ya think?
You guys on here are lammmmmme for really making such a big deal about this. These types of things are posted on peoples facebooks all the time. Are you guys 60?
not everybody on Facebook is under the spotlight. If Heath desires to be a big leaguer, he better grow the eff up.
Yeah I’m sure you’ve never used any words like this before….
Sam isnt in the public spotlight. If Rollins doesn’t like watching his words, I’m sure there are plenty of jobs available loading package cars at UPS, where nobody will care about what he says. But if he wants the opportunity to make millions of dollars pitching in the major leagues, then he’s going to have to make tradeoffs.
Asking him not to say dumbass things in exchange for a life of luxury seems like a fair trade to me.
HE DIDN’T DO THIS! IT WAS A PRANK FROM A FRIEND OBVIOUSLY! GET OVER IT.
again. his page. his responsibility.
and that is why he deleted it when he saw that one of his friends put it up. Grow a sense of humor people
the bigger responsibility is to not let it happen in the first place. still his fault whether he fixes it or not.
Jay, would it have been humorous if his Facebook page said “Heath Rollins is a N*****”? Because this is the same thing. I think your view of “humor” differs from most people.
Well you spent enough time to copy his page on here 10 min after it was posted so you apparently just check peoples pages. Heath obviously didn’t do it. So you do it to stir stuff up not piss off half wits. All this does is cause problems and you wonder why athletes like to keep private from people like you
Sounds like Heath’s problem. Not mine.
Cork Gaines and Sam must be some kind of low life, losers. Pathetic and miserable. You two should be best friends. What kind of person searches for things like this? If it is “Heath’s problem” like you said, then why would you bother with it? STALKER. Have you never had any friends? Dudes do this kind of thing all the time to each other if someone leaves their facebook up. It’s just a prank. Get a life and stop trying to ruin other people’s. Especially people who you don’t even know.
I didn’t search for it.
Nobody’s ruining anybody’s life. You’ve got to be kidding me. All we’re doing is talking about someone’s offensive post. No need for rudeness.
I usually come to this site 5 times a week, but this type of stuff is lame. You are not Deadspin. Stick to what works for you.
This strikes me as pretty irresponsible to throw a post like this up there. In your need to be first on the “story,” you run the risk of crapping on someone who very likely left their facebook page open for a roommate to mess with. This echos most of the other comments above, but I want to add my voice so that perhaps you won’t do this anymore. Really just interested in baseball-related stuff. Please don’t try to draw a link to how this stuff affects on-field play or team chemistry. This is incredibly weak.
I cover the Rays on and off the field. This is nothing new. And this site is not about to change. I am sorry if this bothers some of you.
Whether you guys are offended or not, the term is offensive to many. And as was stated earlier, even if it wasn’t Rollins’ doing, it is still his page and his responsibility.
Dude you must have zero friends. Yeah, it is his page, that is why he deleted it when he saw it was on there.
I like the comment by Alan Robbins, the catching prospect of the Phillies that’s pretty cool at least.
heath a playa, he gets all the girls and knows how to use it to his advantage man. he aint no fag.
i know heath and he told me the whole story all ready. this is pathetic that it really made headlines. It was seriously a joke that he had nothing to do with..