My Thoughts On You, Kevin Kiley

This isn’t the first time Kiley has expressed his distaste for womens’ involvement in the NFL.

In 2012, when Kiley had a show with Chuck Booms on 92.3, he got into it with Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot on the air. Why? He was upset over the fact that she was on the panel as an alternate to vote for the Hall of Fame. In regards to if he thought women should be able to vote on a football player’s career, Kiley said to Cabot:

“I don’t believe that women should vote, and I’ve said that before.”

More recently, last April after the NFL announced the hiring of the first permanent female referee Sarah Thomas, Kiley had some gems to release over the airwaves too. Here’s a few from that segment:

“Why do we need a female official?”

“Why is the world better with a female NFL official?”

“You’re in a strictly man’s world. In a thing that calls for a lot of “man traits,” if you will, not that they’re better or worse than female traits, it’s just not the right place. It’s the wrong place to put a woman. It’s unfair to the woman.”

I don’t understand why he can’t understand progress, change, and breaking barriers. That’s how we evolve as human beings. Haven’t we watched this in society, and sports, for decades? Why does he feel he has the grounds to say what a woman wants to, and can do, when he’s not a woman? Why does he need to say what these women want to do. Have you asked them personally, Kiley? It’s unfair, to the woman? What you’re saying is unfair, man!

He even said that a woman would be in a position to fail if she were asked to move a wheelbarrow full of bricks on a construction site, because she’s not suited to do that. What? So… now, women, who are professional athletes, body builders, MMA fighters, construction workers, members of the army, etc., have no capacity to handle physical activity?

He does understand she was selected for this job, right? It wasn’t like a Facebook contest where a woman was randomly selected to be involved in the Bills football operations. I’m just so dumbfounded by his argument.

I can, however, understand that not all women, or men for that matter, are suited to be in positions of power in professional sports. That’s just common sense. Not every single human being on this planet has the qualities it takes to work every single job. That’s why we have options, and you can pick what career field you want to be in. It’s not common sense, though, to say that women have no place in the industry. That’s just asinine.

During his rant on Thursday morning, he continues on to say this:

“When you stand next to a woman are you bigger and stronger? Do you have the ability to impose your will physically on most people? Women don’t have that.”

Is striking fear into players how coaching is done now? Is that the only way you earn respect? Kiley, she’s going to be a QUALITY CONTROL-SPECIAL TEAMS COACH. A QCC. By definition, she’s basically going to be breaking down film, charting tendencies, organizing data, and be involved with game preparations. Also, she may be involved in running the scout team in practices. It’s absurd that you would think a woman, who’s entering her 14th season in the NFL couldn’t handle such a job. You kept talking about her ceiling, and how she can fail, and so on and so forth. Who said she wants to advance beyond this? Isn’t this already a promotion from where she was before? Hasn’t she already been moving up the ranks? Who said she is the right woman, or person, to advance again before anyone else in the organization? Your argument is invalid and embarrassing.

It comes down to the simple fact of if you can do your job. If you can, you stay. If you can’t, you’re gone. Coaches get fired constantly. If she does a bad job, she should be fired. I understand that, and I’m a woman, Kiley. No one knows how good she’s even going to be at the job yet, and you’re just making assumptions.

“She couldn’t possibly be qualified to the same level that a man could be qualified to do that.”

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