Gossip On Sports - The Latest Dish On and Off the Field

Halloween Costume Fallout

by Jodie Lynn Boduch on November 2nd, 2007

So this couple shows up decked out in Halloween gear at a charity event as a life-sized Wendy’s logo and a plastic rendition of a nekkid man.

What’s wrong with that? Plenty, if you’re Detroit Lions QB Jon Kitna and the get-ups poke fun at an incident that left your assistant coach red in the face (and possibly elsewhere on the body, too).

Lions Defensive Coach Joe Cullen inspired the costumes, donned by Kitna and his wife at a teammate’s Halloween party for charity. In August 2006, Cullen was arrested for driving sans clothing in the drive-through lane at Wendy’s. This episode and another alcohol-related arrest landed Cullen a two-year sentence of probation and twice weekly AA meetings.

Because we’re frozen-hearted snark fiends lacking the proper instruments for measure, we’re not sure which made us laugh the loudest: The original incident with Cullen or the costume send-up.

There were no hard feelings from good-sport Cullen, but Kitna said he regretted the media overattention to the matter and didn’t want to invite further scrutiny of Cullen. Yet here we are, playing our part in the exposure–ha ha, get it? Exposure? (This might explain why we were assigned to write Gossip on Sports and not Issues That Require Serious Discussion on Sports).

The real disappointment here is that Kitna and his wife did not win the best costume prize –which, by the way, was a car. (How come the rest of us only get invited to parties where they give away things like hand-knit scarves,  doorstop-quality fudge, or gift certificates to restaurants that haven’t had a customer since 1984?).  

It’s a shame they didn’t win . . . especially since Kitna said he would have given Cullen the car. 

If you’re still reading this, then you probably have an extra second or two to vote in our caption contest, right?

Share This

Related Stories

Question: What’s the Buzz?
The NFL Coaches’ Halloween Party
Female or Male Referees in the NFL? You Decide
Nose Candy for Halloween
Best and Worst of Sports in 2007, Part II

POSTED IN: Football