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Brady Quinn part of rowdy group outside Columbus bar, witness says

Posted by Aaron Marshall February 13, 2008 03:00AM

Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn was part of a group of men shouting insults at gay passers-by outside a Columbus bar early on New Year's Day, according to a 9-1-1 call made to police.

The call at 2:35 a.m. came from Seth Harris, who reported that he encountered the group in front of La Fogata Grill at 790 North High St. The Mexican restaurant is next door to the Union Cafe Bar + Food, one of Columbus' most popular gay bars in the gay-friendly Short North neighborhood.
Hear the 9-1-1 call:


On the 9-1-1 call, Harris said that "Brady Quinn from the Browns" was "trying to cause a fight." Harris told the operator, "I just walked outside and he exchanged many profanities with me and called me a , of course."

Reached Monday by The Plain Dealer, Harris confirmed that Quinn was the person who used the slur.

"I knew who it was," he said. "It wasn't just directed at me, there were other people around, too."

He said Quinn was with a "big group" of friends numbering perhaps 10, and that the quarterback "wasn't as involved as" others were in stirring up trouble. "He was standing back and letting his friends do most of it," Harris said.

On the call, Harris told police that "this has been going on all night and nobody has stopped anything."

Browns spokesman Bill Bonsiewicz had no comment. On Monday afternoon, Bonsiewicz said Quinn was training "out west" and said he had left messages for the quarterback and his agent, Tom Condon. By Tuesday evening, no response had been received.

Condon did not respond to a pair of e-mails requesting comment on the allegations made against the second-year quarterback from the Columbus area. The messages were sent after Condon's office advised that e-mail was the best way to contact the super-agent.

Quinn served as the Browns backup quarterback throughout 2007 and is a former first-round draft pick hailed as the team's savior at the quarterback position. A star player in college for Notre Dame and at Dublin Coffman High School outside Columbus, Quinn has parlayed his good looks and wholesome image into several lucrative national endorsement contracts.

On the 9-1-1 call, Harris told police that he feared for his safety.

"I'm not going to wait for police because it's going to turn ugly," Harris said. "They are being very violent and I probably should get away."

A Columbus police spokeswoman said officers arrived several minutes after Harris' call and found Quinn in the midst of an argument with 32-year-old Jason Thompson.

"I don't believe there were any punches being thrown -- it was more verbal than anything," said Columbus police spokeswoman Amanda Ford.

"When we got there, he was very cooperative and just stopped," Ford said of Quinn's encounter with police. "I think his friends were like, 'Let's get out of here.' "

However, police arrested Thompson when "he wouldn't back down and turned on officers," Ford said.

Additional police officers were called to help clear the scene, Ford said.

"From what I remember about it, there were so many people milling around in the parking lot that they called for more cars just so they could get things under control," she said.

Police arrested Thompson for disorderly conduct for failing to leave. His attorney, Joe Landusky, said that Thompson pleaded guilty to a minor misdemeanor and was given a suspended fine. Police say in the Thompson arrest report that two separate fights took place. Along with the Thompson fracas, the other confrontation appears to have involved Thompson's friend, Brian Dunfee.

Dunfee reported later to police that he suffered minor injuries to his left knee and right elbow when he was thrown to the ground by a 6-foot white man with brown hair, a police report says. Police labeled the attack on Dunfee as an "anti-male homosexual" hate crime.

La Fogata Grill owner Jeff Rinehart said Quinn's group, which he said included about a dozen people -- half men, half women -- did not cause any problems while drinking inside his restaurant on New Year's Eve.

"The only issue was trying to get everyone's checks figured out," he said.

Landusky, who represents Thompson and Dunfee, said his clients encountered Quinn's group outside La Fogata Grill. Landusky said Dunfee isn't sure who threw him to the ground.

"In all fairness to what the truth is, I don't know if Brady Quinn himself had anything to do with" the injuries, Landusky said. "It might have just been people he was with."

Landusky said Thompson was "trying to protect his friend" when he was arrested.

The head of a Columbus gay and lesbian anti-violence group called the report of Quinn using a slur "very distressing."

"That person is in theory a role model for so many people," said Gloria McCauley, executive director of the Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization. "To have one of our well-known people engage in behavior that I consider hateful saddens me. We obviously need to do a lot more education."

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/02/brady_quinn_part_of_rowdy_grou.html

Wow, sad news if it's true, but something tells me there's MUCH, MUCH more to the story, and if anything, his friends might've caused the majority of this trouble for him.

Then again, Brady would be one of the last people I would think of for gay-bashing, considering his string of questionable pics that he's found himself involved with...

Keep you're hatred under control Toad, we've yet to know the full story and why it took more then a month for this to come out? I'm sure this happens many times outside of bars when people get drunk and are not using their heads. The person who said he was thrown to the ground did not even tell the police about it till later. The story even contradicts itself:

""Brady Quinn from the Browns" was "trying to cause a fight." Harris told the operator, "I just walked outside and he exchanged many profanities with me and called me a , of course.""

"that the quarterback "wasn't as involved as" others were in stirring up trouble. "He was standing back and letting his friends do most of it," Harris said."

First its all Brady then all of a sudden it was only his friends? Brady is going to come out with his own defense, Browns are going to be behind him, the NFL will see there is nothing to do here, then this story and this guy's minute of fame will be over.

I'm not adding controversy to this thread or do I pick between DA or Quinn, But just wanna add this. First I have no idea whats true or not true about this artical nor do i know Brady personnelly. BUT

1. Brady seems very inmature / cocky for not yet doing anything in this leauge, Maybe Phil dosent wanna hand over the franchise to a young inmature player yet. Thus is the reason for signing DA to three years?

2. I'm not against Brady starting after watching the Super bowl and Eli come of age, I couldnt help to think of Brady and the thoughts of get him playing came to mind, he has to start, but maybe he needs to get this celebraty status out of his system before he can consintrate on football.

Just my .02

Well, I certainly don't like hearing this at all..

I don't like the fact that he was even mentioned.. But as the article says, someone only THINKS he made a comment or Slur against gays..

Doesn't sound like proof to me.. doesn't sound like anyone actually knows anything except that he was there..,

I think I'll reserve judgement until the facts are presented....

I still don't like hearing this...

I wonder why it took so long for this story to surface? I think DA gave a "heads up" to the media (I kid, I kid). In all seriousness, if true, not a smart move on Quinn's part.

j/c

How old is Quinn? 25? he needs to act his age and always know that you're being watched when you're in the NFL.

Yaaaawn.

If he did it, he's stupid. If he has something against gays he needs to stay out of the Short North.

I hate overpriveleged silver spoon yuppies, so I stay out of his hometown of Dublin.

Joking aside, as long as he didn't physically assault someone then he's not in trouble.

Did he break the law? No, so I don't care. I also don't care if he did utter a gay slur. He can do whatever he wants within the limits of the law as long as it doesn't affect his throwing arm.

You wouldnt care if he started flinging insults at your mom, grandmother, daughter, sister?

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Joking aside, as long as he didn't physically assault someone then he's not in trouble.

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Just his reputation.

Agreed. Professional athletes don't need to be getting drunk and shouting insults at anyone. And if he wasn't drunk and still couldn't resist shouting insults, that's called flat out being an (((masked profanity))).

That's disappointing if it's true. He can feel any way he wants about gay people, I just don't see why some people feel the need to harrass others.

None of us were there and so we really don't know what happened but I don't like hearing this. I think it's a case of where there is smoke there is fire.

I believe somebody was acting like a jackass in his group. Whether it was him we might never know but if he was in the group he is guilty just by association. At some point you have to grow up. Stop doing the stupid childish stuff you used to do and stop hanging with crap people that continue to act like this.

Since when did this board become full of " SAINTS " ?

Let's see...New Years...group of people. Probably drunk off his ass. Probably doesn't remember.

You guys don't even wanna know what I allegedly said on new years. He's a kid. Stuff happens.

And yes...white kids from an all-white area really need to watch what they say cuz it doesn't fly when you're out of your protective shell. Even if you're not a hateful/ignorant person there's jokes that don't work in other communities that you learn growing up.

I think nothing of it, honestly. Just a learning experience.

He's a 23 year old millionaire... not a kid.

And the difference between what comes out of you mouth when you're drunk and what comes out when you're sober.. is only different in that the filter is turned on when you're sober... it doesn't affect what you're thinking.

Everyone has a friend or 2 that hates blacks, whites, jews, gays, whatever. Well, at least I have a few that have very different views than my own. I knew one guy since I was 5 and he has started stuff with people when I was 21 or so and that static was brought on to me b/c I was with him. So I would run my mouth back b/c I felt disrespected when I didn't do anything except stand there and be friends with a jerk, and things then blew up from there. We only get the "victims" side of things of course. Brady has money so he is in the wrong automatically. You know, for the lawsuit later on down the line for not choosing better friends I am not defending him at all b/c honestly he comes across as a full of himself jerk, He does need to know better though to walk away from situations b/c it could effect his football career. his pretty boy image is all over the place in Central/NE Ohio and is easily recognized.
I wonder why were just hearing about this a month and a half after the fact? I

I agree, Ammo. Also, 337, I agree with you.

I know that when I was 23, 24, and heck, even now at 28, you get some drinks in me and my buddies, we're going to do and say stupid stuff. Does it excuse it? Not in the least.

Quinn, if he was yelling this hateful stuff, then he's in the wrong, no doubt. But what bearing does this have on him as our QB or as a member of the Browns? Not much at all, in my eyes. He needs to make better decisions, but I'm pretty sure there's not a person on here who has never made a bad decision.

If he screwed up, he needs to learn from it and "sin no more." But if this is the extent that our players get in trouble, I'd be pleased. Not pleased with what he said or did, but pleased that it's not "Quinn was at a strip club and assaulted a guy" or "Quinn was arrested for robbery", etc.

There is a difference between saying something amongst your friends that may not be politically correct and standing outside a gay bar and bashing the people that walk out.

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I don't necessarily buy the "filter" argument. I've said things when drunk I wouldn't dream of even thinking when I'm sober.

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Well I believe that alcohol can change your physical ability to function and I believe it changes your inhibitions.. I just don't believe it changes the way you think.

I don't believe somebody could be well-adjusted sober and a total racist drunk... or a total homophobe... or a total whore... or any of the other things people blame on being drunk.

The 9-1-1 call specifically named Brady Quinn? Honestly, if I saw him from across the street I mixed in with 10 other guys yelling stuff at me, I wouldn't be able to recognize him, at least not to the point I would specifically name him in my call to 9-1-1.

Plus "Was trying to cause a fight" eventually became "He was in the back, letting his friends do most of the taunting"

So was he or was, he specifically, not trying to start a fight?

There's alot more to this story than what's here, not to mention it took 6 weeks to come out (no pun intended )

I'll wait till I hear the other side, and see how more of this shakes out before I make a decision on the accusations.

Plus we don't know the whole story. For all we know one of the opposing crowd could have made a pass at Quinn and his friends.

Add alcohol to a bunch of testosterone-filled guys' systems and things will get ugly. Tolerance or not...when you're drunk, the last thing you want to deal with is another guy making a pass at you. Even if you're perfectly fine with their lifestyle, it's just not your bag of tricks.

And likewise, we don't know for sure if Quinn was the guy who started the fight. Lord knows I've been in groups where fights started that I had nothing to do with.

Talk about reaching and making things up. Wow, anything to make excuses for your golden boy I guess.

People here are making statements with the preface of "if this is true".

And, I didn't know you had to be a saint to think being hateful and nasty to other people is a bad thing. I'll be darned, learn something new every day.

Very sad if true. What if he had been yelling slurs at black people...how would those of you excusing him feel then?

It sounded like that guy was a friend of the guy getting called names from one article I read.

No kidding. If not being an a** out in public means being a saint, then I guess I'm a saint.

Thompson doesn't sound like he was in Quinn's group, but rather in the group they were arguing with.


I think it's a little funny that the caller comes right out and specifically says to 911 that he's arguing with Brady Quinn and being called names, then later in the story says Quinn kind of sat in the rear and was more quiet than the rest. He also said they were violent, yet nothing physical happened.

I'll have to wait until the full story is out before I judge. Sounds like it's been exaggerated.

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I'll have to wait until the full story is out before I judge. Sounds like it's been exaggerated.

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If a straight guy and a gay guy get into a confrontation,...who's at fault?...who do you believe?

Oh, I'm sure you'd fit right in with the group in question, so your excuses don't surprise me a bit. Twenty three is too old to act like this. If you are still calling yourself a kid at that age, you have some serious issues.

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And guys...gay slurs are very, VERY common in any locker room.

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Prejudice, in any form, in any location is something I can't tolerate easily!

But before we go off on Quinn,, sooner or later, there will be a statement by Quinn, his agent, the Browns or someone.. THen we can listen to thier version of it, make up our minds who we believe and then make comments..

I'll wait to see what the kid says......