Brendon Ayanbadejo Does A Double-Take

In a story originally posted in Newsday, Baltimore Ravens linebacker and Special Teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo inferred that his stance on supporting gay rights might have figured into the team's decision to release him. He was quoted as saying:

"My bark is louder than my bite. I make a lot of noise and garner a lot of attention for various things off the football field. When that starts happening, why do you have that player around? I don't necessarily think that teams want this type of attention."

A day later, he did a '180' and was extremely complimentary to the team, stating:

"The Ravens have facilitated the relationships I have with the community. ... If the Ravens wanted to cut me for my stance on marriage equality, they would have done it in 2009..."

The Ravens have always seemed to be supportive of Ayanbadejo's outspoken opinions on the subject and his teammates have never criticized him fro his stance. Teammate Matt Birk said he didn't share the same views on the topic as Brendon, but respected his right to his own opinion and it never caused any friction.

NFL.com had two related stories on this subject, the first on BA's original comments and the second as a follow-up when he appeared on the NFL Network's NFL-AM Show.