Sports Publisher Regrets His Racist Note

The publisher of two sports magazines, Football News and Basketball Weekly, has apologized for remarks he wrote belittling the dedication of black athletes.

“I regret sending the letter and apologize to all those people who were offended by its contents,” Publisher Roger Stanton said Sunday. “This is not the real Roger Stanton talking.”

Stanton made the statement after a letter he wrote to NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw was published by the Detroit Free Press. The two-page note discussed the recently broadcast NBC program called “Black Athletes: Fact and Fiction.”

In the letter, Stanton, 60, said the network avoided mentioning that black athletes “lack discipline,” are more prone to “emotional swings than the white athlete” and “are not willing to pay the price” to succeed in professions other than in sports.

The newspaper said Stanton had sent a copy of the letter to its sports broadcasting columnist. Stanton admitted sending the letter but said he did not intend for it to be published.

Stanton cited his record as a sports publisher in his apology.

“For the entire 40 years of my sports journalism career, I have been fair to everyone, and my publications, Football News and Basketball Weekly, have given fair treatment to all athletes, coaches and administrators, regardless of race, creed or color,” Stanton said.

Football News, which Stanton took over in 1962, publishes 20 times a year and lists a paid circulation of 150,000 a year. Basketball Weekly has a circulation of 40,000.