Quite the uproar was created last week when, in the wake of Joe Paterno‘s firing, one of his former players very vehemently came to the coaching legend’s defense.
Franco Harris, who was a running back at Penn State before going on to a Hall of Fame career in the NFL, blasted the Board of Trustees’ decision to fire JoePa, saying among other things that “he was disappointed in their... bad decision” and that they “showed no courage” in not backing a man “who really needed it at the time.”
A week after exercising his right to free speech, a company with which Harris been doing business has exercised its right to tap the brakes on, if not outright end, that relationship.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Meadows Race Track and Casino has fired Harris as one of its celebrity spokespersons due to the fallout from his comments late last week. While the paper labels it a firing, the statement from the casino says that their relationship has been put on hold.
That, though, could merely be a matter of corporate semantics.
“In light of the recent developments with Franco Harris regarding Joe Paterno’s dismissal, Franco and The Meadows have mutually decided to put their business relationship on hold at this time, while these matters are looked into further,” the Meadows said in a statement Tuesday night.
Harris, along with former Pittsburgh Steelers teammate Rocky Bleier, was hired by the casino to appear in television advertisements, as well as “assist the entertainment facility with various outreach activities, charitable events and public appearances.”
