Dale Hansen isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Nothing unusual about that. Hansen does that on TV in front of millions of viewers. Again, nothing unusual about that. Opinions, points of view, others’ versions of reality are all over TV. What is unusual about this is that Dale Hansen is a local TV sportscaster. Sportscasters […]
Dale Hansen isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Nothing unusual about that.
Hansen does that on TV in front of millions of viewers.
Again, nothing unusual about that. Opinions, points of view, others’ versions of reality are all over TV.
What is unusual about this is that Dale Hansen is a local TV sportscaster.
Sportscasters tell you who wins, who loses and what the score was. They don’t usually deliver commentaries about acceptance, tolerance and equality because what does that have to do with sports, right?
“I like to write commentaries,” says Hansen. “I enjoy rocking the boat.”
Recently, Hansen, the sports anchor for WFAA, the ABC affiliate in Dallas owned by Gannett, got personal with one of his commentaries and it’s since, as they say, gone viral.
Hansen took to the airwaves in one of his Unplugged segments to denounce the fact that kids at a local high school were seen holding two signs which read, White Power.
Hansen admitted that he “used to be one of those kids,” and how he had to unlearn the prejudice of a father who used a racial slur “like it was a proper noun.”
“I try and pertain to sports,” says Hansen about his commentaries, adding he likes to “personalize them so people know where I’m coming from and why.”
Hansen says he’s gotten about 600 emails so far from viewers about this story. Only four of them, he says, were negative.
That palls in comparison to the more than 5000 emails he says he received after his commentary about Michael Sam, the first openly gay college football player to enter the NFL.
When I tell him that I think it’s great that he does these and that maybe his commentaries might change the minds of some watching, he scoffs at the notion.
But then talks about some comments he heard after the Michael Sam story.
“The greatest thing I heard was from some dads who had not talked to their sons in years because their sons were gay.” Some told Hansen that they had reconciled with their sons saying that “if Dale Hansen says he’s OK with people being gay, then I’m OK with it, too.”
Feel that? The boat’s rocking.
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