Hot Hawaiian Guy

On May 3 of this year, news broke in many sports media outlets that former Chicago Bears star center Olin Kreutz had been fired from the editorial board of the sports website CHGO Sports. It didn’t seem like a big deal. Plus, the 44-year-old Kreutz hasn’t played in the league since 2011, so why is the media so interested?

For starters, the very reason for the dismissal is unconventional. At a meeting of the editorial board of the startup sports website, journalist Adam Hodgy made a “frivolous remark” to Kreutz. In response, he allegedly grabbed his colleague by the neck in front of everyone. Fortunately, Hodji did not need medical attention and was back at work the next day without calling the police. But the site management hastened to part ways with Kreutz and published a statement about it on social media.

The former footballer himself refused to comment on the situation, and in response to the social media post by his former employer he posted a picture on his Twitter account with a quote from Mike Tyson: “Social media have become too convenient for disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it!”

octually, the “getting punched in the face” thing is more to do with Kreutz himself. His soccer career since college has been riddled with scandals and fisticuffs.

The first public incident involving a soccer player dates back to April 1996, when young Hawaii native Olin Kreutz played for the Washington Huskies. Back then, an altercation at practice before a spring game with D-Tackle Sekou Wiggs escalated into a locker room brawl. The hot Hawaiian guy broke his teammate’s jaw in two places. Kreutz was suspended until the end of spring training and sent to anger management counseling. He later had this to say about the incident:

“I liked Sekou. When you hit a friend, you don’t want to break his jaw. I learned how to fight when I was young. I knew I was strong.”

In 1998, Olin, who was considered the best center in the draft class, was taken by the Bears. He played 13 seasons in Chicago, made the Pro Bowl six times, was selected to the first and second All-Pro teams. And he broke his jaw again.

In November 2005, he had an off-campus altercation with offensive lineman Fred Miller. The argument continued in a drinking establishment, where Miller threw a drink in Kreutz’s face and he responded with a punch to the jaw, for which he retaliated. Miller was taller and heavier than Kreutz and also used a “heavy object” in the fight, which he used on his friend’s head. As a result, Kreutz received 13 stitches in the head area. Miller’s jaw was broken, he was operated on, a steel plate was inserted and he missed the rest of the season.

Both were fined but not disqualified. The Chicago coach at the time was Lavie Smith (now head coach of the Texans). He thought the press had exaggerated the whole thing:

“It wasn’t even a fight, it was a fight. You know, it’s like a family thing, and brothers fight sometimes. No more than that. The main thing is that we were informed right away. We’ll sort it out.

Kreutz ended his career with Chicago in 2011, turning down a one-year, $4 million contract offer and leaving for New Orleans. Incidentally, the Saints gave him a one-year, $2 million contract with the possibility of earning another $2 million in bonuses. But apparently the star center has already gone toe-to-toe with Chicago.

His tenure with the Saints didn’t work out right from the start. Olin constantly clashed with o-line coach Aaron Cromer. The player later recounted that the coach told him “things you can’t say to a grown man and not expect to get your ass kicked for it.” Kreutz, he said, was driven to the point where one careless word from Kromer could have resulted in the player “sending him to the hospital.”

Apparently, that careless word was said in the Saints’ locker room in October 2011. Kreutz jumped up and headed for Kromer, someone tried to hold him back – an enraged Olin shoved him off the wall. That someone was Drew Breese.

“It came down to the fact that I couldn’t be in the same room with this guy (Cromer),” the soccer player said later in a radio interview. – It went on for months. I realized that it could not go on. I remember somebody tried to grab me and I threw him against the wall. Yeah, it was Drew Brees. But, look, [future] Hall of Fame member or not, you shouldn’t grab other people.”

Immediately after the incident, Kreutz said, “It’s time for me to leave. “The Saints dismissed him on October 22, 2011, and the player never returned to the league.

As his playing career came to an end, Kreutz’s fiery temper seemed to fade a bit. He found himself in sports media and became known for his knowledgeable and thoughtful analysis of Bears games on NBC Sports Chicago. In 2019, he joined CHGO Sports.

In January of this year, Kreutz made headlines again, but not because of the fight, but because of his scandalous statements about the Bearcats’ owners. At the time, he told reporters that he had been called to join the team in 2018 as a consultant at a salary of $18 an hour. Olin called the McCaskey family, which owns the team, stingy and said: until they invest more in the Bearcats, expect no success from the team.

George McCaskey responded with a touch of humor:

“You don’t know all the details. Over the years, I’ve learned to take everything Olin says with a grain of skepticism. I look forward to hearing him repeat the story in his Hall of Fame induction speech.”

Kreutz didn’t reach into his pocket for a response:

“If that man repeated it all to my face, he and I would have a problem.”

The next time they wrote about Olin, it was in connection with the incident on the CHGO website.

As we can see, the years have not changed Kreutz. Nevertheless, despite his complicated character, to put it mildly, many journalists are amazed by what happened. They say Olin was easy and pleasant to work with, he took his responsibilities very seriously and had no reservations.

It is all the more sad that a former soccer player who was successfully integrated into the sports media may end his career as a journalist after his anger and clashes with a colleague.

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