All about Kitna's questionable Halloween costume
by Philip Zaroo | MLive.com
Wednesday October 31, 2007, 3:42 AM
Jon Kitna dresses as Lions defensive line coach Joe Cullen, who last year drove through a Wendy's drive-thru naked. Kitna's wife is dressed as the Wendy's girl. Sure, Jon Kitna may be a devout Christian, and that's something he's very proud of. But that certainly doesn't mean he's above giving an elbow to the ribs of his coaches or teammates. Take, for example, Kitna's costume at the Mike Furrey Foundation's charity Halloween party Monday night at Plaza Alley Bowling Alley in Plymouth.
Yeah, that's right, Kitna dressed up like defensive line coach Joe Cullen while Kitna's wife went as Wendy, from Wendy's Restaurants. (For those who slept through last year, Cullen caused quite a stir, locally and around the country, when he allegedly made a late night run to a Wendy's drive-thru ... naked.) Fox 2 Detroit was there to get Kitna's costume on record.
Drew Sharp, of the Detroit Free Press, was not amused. In fact, he wrote a column about it. What was conspicuously missing from his column, though, was Cullen's opinion on the topic. Sure wish I could've heard an opinion from the guy who this is about. Lucky for us, though, we all know what Drew thinks.
Detroit Free Press, October 30: "A lot of the guys on the team remember what happened," Kitna told Fox 2 at the party. "It's far enough removed that you can laugh at it now."
I wonder if Cullen or head coach Rod Marinelli share that sentiment, considering the humiliation that the episode caused Cullen and his family.
It's one thing if such insensitivity emanates from a smart-alecky columnist who has long accepted the inevitability of his eternal damnation. But it's a wholly different matter when it's one of the coach's own players who obviously is comfortable publicly mocking the man's personal fallibilities.
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The stunt was consistent with Kitna's in-your-face style. If you don't like what he says or what he does, that's tough. He's not changing.
But he crossed the line this time and owes Cullen an apology, if for nothing else but for pushing that embarrassing evening back to the forefront of local consciousness.
This is my reply to Jon Kitna regarding his choice in costumes the other night. I would say that we all, as followers of Christ, need to make Mr. Kitna realize that he committed an error in judgment and repent of the sinful and shameful way he's ridiculed someone else.
Mr. Kitna,
I just wanted to write you concerning the choice of costume that you wore for the event recently. This character who walked into the room with his Wendy's clad wife was a far cry from the one who did the interview with Eric Smith for Tales from the Heart. It is a sad devation from the person who wears the cross on his hats and stands in prayer circles on the field, has bible studies at his home and speaks out to the youth of today regarding choices.
Would you like one of those kids to do this to one of their peers? Isn't that what you have talked against?
I know that Christ wouldn't have thought this appropiate regardless of the length of time since the incident or the recovery of the person invovled. And your glib comment that it is so far in the past bodes ill for Christians speaking out for the protection of family (a thing of the past), honoring our christian heritage (again a thing of the past), and so on. Paul also spoke of not causing your brother to fall by doing something that would tempt him. Have you not tempted a lot of youthful Christians to feel okay with ridiculing another?
I would call upon your faith, if indeed you are not just a cultural christian but a true follower of Christ, and correct the situation. Inform Cullen publicly that you apologize for this, tell your fans (like me) who look at you as a Christian leader that you apologize for your error in judgment, and then have your wife do the same, as she followed in your lead……
I've already had several coworkers come up to me and say, "See, you Christians are all alike. Hypocrites." Just the other night, I spoke to my wife during the "Tales from the Heart" program of how you were impacting the faith by your leadership and your 'not ashamed to be a Christian' attitude. How I respected and looked to you to impact the sport and the city for Christ…………….
Now, as most leaders in the faith are doing now, you have disgraced us who would cheer you on. Though I forgive you, I wonder how much of an impact this will have on those I speak to about my faith…..
Thanks for your impact on my ministries…...
Chaplain Jim Hutson
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