Curt Schilling Says ESPN Has 'Some of the Biggest Racists in Sports Commentary'

Curt Schilling, who was fired by ESPN last week for sharing an insensitive meme aimed at the transgender community on Facebook, hit back at his former employer in an interview with SiriusXM's Breitbart News Patriot Forum program.

"It was apparent to me early on that if you wanted to go off topic as a sports person you had to go off topic left, or you were going to get in trouble," the former MLB pitcher said, per Neil Best of Newsday. "Some of the most racist things I’ve ever heard have come out of people that are on the air at ESPN. They’re some of the biggest racists in sports commentating."

Schilling had the opportunity to clarify his remarks after the program, and the former ESPN analyst doubled down:

"

The memo that was sent out more than once was about they wanted on air-talent to focus on sports. To me that means focus on sports unless you want to talk about something that is part of the liberal agenda.

You listen to Stephen A. Smith, and Stephen A. Smith was the guy who said that Robert Griffin didn’t play quarterback for the Redskins because he’s black. No, Robert Griffin didn’t play quarterback for the Redskins because he [stunk].

... Tony Kornheiser compared the Tea Party to ISIS. I don’t know any planet where those are sports topics. But I don’t care. It’s OK. I think those conversations need to happen. But as soon as you go to the flip side, the right side, there are repercussions for not talking about sports.

"

Jemele Hill of ESPN staunchly disagreed with Schilling's take:

Schilling had gotten in hot water with ESPN in August 2015 after he compared Muslim extremists to Nazis. 

That tweet read, "It's said that only 5-10% of Muslims are extremists. In 1940, only 7% of Germans were Nazis. How'd that go?" The tweet included an image of Adolf Hitler. He then added the response, "The math is staggering when you get to true #s."

Schilling said that people didn't focus enough on his use of the word "extremists" in that tweet, per Best. This time around, he said on the Breitbart show, "My commentary around it was the functionality of men’s and women’s bathrooms."

On Wednesday, ESPN hired former MLB player Raul Ibanez to appear as an analyst on Baseball Tonight and to contribute to selected broadcasts of MLB games, presumably as Schilling's replacement in that role.

Schilling, 49, had a long and successful MLB career, finishing 216-146 with a 3.46 ERA, 1.137 WHIP and 3,116 strikeouts in 20 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox. He was a six-time All-Star, three-time World Series champion and the 2001 World Series MVP.  

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