Wrestler won’t apologize for gay porn photos. And why should he?

Last year, All-American wrestler Paul Donahoe (University of Nebraska) was booted from the University’s team after the University learned that Donahoe and a teammate posed nude for a gay website.

Paul had been on his own as a young man since high school, and did the shoot for the $4K that he earned.  He says he is straight (no reason to doubt him and it’s really quite irrelevant), and that he didn’t tell anyone about the shoot because he didn’t want the attention – just needed the money.

Well, the University found out and took away his scholarship and booted him off the team.   Paul sat out a semester, until getting a chance to transfer to Edinboro University in PA,

where he is doing fantastically well.  

Paul refuses to ask for forgiveness or apologize for anything he did.  And why in the hell should he?  The NCAA claimed – and the University claimed – he broke rules of benefiting commercially from his image as a wrestler.  So, he gave the money to a charity.  And that should have been the end of it.  There was zero reason to kick him off the team, and therefore zero reason for him to apologize.

I am not alone in assuming that his ”real crime” here was being on a gay site instead of a straight site.   That, I am sure, is what the University wanted him to apologize for.  And good for him that he refuses to.  As he says, he’s not gay, but he couldn’t care a less about it if he was, if someone else, whatever.  He says he hears ignorant chants in the matches from opposing fans, and uses them to just motivate him to kick his opponents’ asses.

Which he does all the time:  he’s now ranked number one in the nation in his weight class.

I hope he gets to take on someone from the University of Nebraska at nationals this year.  And I hope he puts their head through the floor.

(Photo: Courtesy of Edinboro University)

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A Cubs and Northwestern fan, Joe Moag is a major sports junkie, and although he still runs, he hasn't been able to dunk anything more than a donut for decades.

Unless otherwise stated, no particular sexual orientation of anyone depicted is implied or should be presumed.

Comments

[smalltownslinger]

WOW! he shouldnt apologize! even if what he did was wrong he gave the money to charity! that should have corrected any wrongs. wow people are so dumb!

[Jon R]

You do what you gotta do to survive! He needed the money and if thats they way to do it then great. People need to chill out and get over the fear. It doesnt make you gay if you wrestler a guy for sports. Now if it was two gay guys then its just funny.

[Clay]

Where are the pics? I need photo evidence that he was nude! hot!

[DL]

Too bad no one seems to care that Paul Donahoe is a conservative and arrogant jerk. They see a pretty face and all of the sudden they're all up in arms about how unfairly poor pretty boy was treated after doing porn. Let's get something straight: if you're on the road to being a celebrity (sports, movie, TV, or otherwise) porn WILL follow you wherever you go.

[Tim]

Correct! Porn will follow you on the road to fame. He knew the risks and now has paid the price.

[AW]

Well it seems that the Univ. of Nebraska can no longer boast they have the #1 wrestler in that weight class as part of their team. Their loss. Why didn't the author mention Kenny Jordan, the other wrestler from the same school, who was the one that showered with Donahoe on fratmen tv?

[Andrew]

okay, yes, I agree that this is not right. But seriously, why do we always pull the gay card "being on a gay website instead of a straight one"? The fact is being on a website in general, gay, straight, whatever the case may be. Every time something happens, everyone gets themselves all worked up and claims that it's just because we're gay. I am an out and proud homosexual, but I don't find it necessary to have gay pride to celebrate our orientation, they don't have straight day! Also, every time something happens to a gay person it's because we are gay, and it is wrong. Yes there are some exceptions where we really are being discriminated against, but not all situations are like that. It's 2009 lets get past this phase of blaming all of our issues on other people and take responsibility of our own actions, and that includes posing nude on a porn site.

[Jeff]

Oh shuddup, Joe.

What he did violated the rules that HE was supposed to follow. The very least he could have done was apologize.
And this isn't about "gay". Hetero individuals are suspended/sacked all the time for accessing straight porn sites, for posing nude on straight porn sites... get over it already.

[jphin]

Their assertion is correct. Does anyone remember the lack of coverage or the fact that matt abboud was never sanction when he was a gymnast at Pennsylvania? The difference is that abboud, who is gay, appeared in Playgirl, a straight magazine.

[Daniel]

I have to agree with Jeff. Puritanical Nebraska would have freaked even if he was on a straight site nude. I don't see why free Americans, even if they are on a university sports team, can't make money anyway they see fit. All other students can make money by any legal means they want but an athlete has to be a slave of the university til they graduate.

[Joe Moag]

Jeff: Really? I am totally unaware of the facts that you have asserted, to wit, that "hetero individuals are sacked all the time for accessing straight porn sites, posing nude."

Hey, could be true. Never heard it in my life, but that don't mean it ain't true. You may be totally correct.

Please share those facts with the rest of us. I would like to learn.

Do these straight athletes who get involved with straight porn sites also lose their scholarships, get booted from their teams, get labeled by everyone in their college community (from the athletic administration to the student body) to the degree that they have to go to another school 1500 miles away, get ravaged by crowds in attendance at their athletic events and shunned by all friends and collegues that they had built up heretofore?

[Tony]

It's just a penis, for crying out loud. There is FAR too much fuss about nudity in this country. In argueably more evolved European countries, no one would give a second thought to a noted athlete showing the world what the Good Lord gave him. Perhaps those "fundies" should post a picture of his bare ass on their office walls, and daily pucker up and KISS IT. I know I certaily wouldn't object! Hoo Rah!

[Nathanael]

I agree with the sentiments of this article. However, I believe the more realistic reason he was kicked off the team was not because he was on a gay porn site. It was because he was on a porn site PERIOD. The school most likely thought they didn't want pornography linked to their image and so they axed him. Similar situations happen to straight women when its found out they've done porn in the past.

[NObama]

That's great!
If you need the money do like the rest of us and GET A JOB.
I'm so happy to see that his scholarship was taken away, the system works!
Praise be!!!!!!!!!!
Honestly, he should have been the one paying, with that face?? come on.. he's horrid!

[Jason]

I don't blame nebraska at all for trying to protect their image. It's porn, gay or straight, it's porn. Regardless of his reason or whatever. Besides, he was a stud wrestler at Nebraska. That school gives great scholarships from what I've heard so I don't understand the "I needed he money excuse". When you sign that letter of intent, there are certain things you don't do. Porn is one of them!

[Daniel]

I don't think there are any statistics for I would guess this is a pretty rare thing but college athletes posing on porn sites and making big bucks would theoretically be in big trouble. That is regardless of the orientation of the site. I'm assuming the only reason he was allowed to eventually transfer is that he gave the money to charity so as to not profit from it. I'm sure that must have been a condition of his being able to transfer and join a new team.

[Astro]

well look at all the trouble these straight high school students are getting into with the whole "sexting" thing...

i have a feeling even if it were a straight website he would have been been dismissed

[Boxcar1]

He's a nice looking guy. Now he gets to study with mulity Olympic gold winner Bruce Baumgartner. Who making out on the better side now.

[Daniel]

To nobama. Getting paid for for being nude is a job. Maybe short lived but none-the-less a job. If he has something someone wants to pay him for why not.

[sean]

get off the gay horse! how you twisted this into an issue of "gayness" is really pissing me off.

it's so not an issue of "gay" ... by any means whatsoever.

posing nude promotoing a pornographic website in a heavily conservative country is only the beginning of the "crime" if you want to pinpoint why they wanted an apology..

[Doug M]

Apologize??? Why should he. If this country would get its head out of its ass and people worry about what's in their lives and leave everyone else the hell alone we would have a much better world to live in. My hats off to this young man for at least getting the job and not relying on the taxpayers to get him through his schooling. Watch out for this young man he is going to go somewhere in life.

[tjj03]

well i will say that paul did what he did and yet it a tought wide world and let be honest in any situation mostly any guy would do it for the money and doesnt matter if he was gay or straight, some people sell there gold or silver car ,homes or what ever if he did pose that is a right of man ,i would not be want the right to hear no ,paul u did it they why u want and should have not been kick out or of the team but ,im glad that ur doing so much better,keep up the great work.let hope for a follow -up story soon.

[Pt]

well, not bad
http://www.gcstheblog.com/2008/08/17/donahoe_jordon.html

not bad at all

[Pt]

much better quality pic here

http://yansored.typepad.fr/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/05/080906nash02.jpg

[super8]

Yes, Heteros do get sacked for viewing or being in porn sights. I know cause I replaced a guy that did it and violated company policy.

[Nick]

Who care's about Paul like this is new's to me. This is crap new's to me, that's what this is. Just could not find some real new's to talk about.

[Will]

He broke the laws.Pure and simple, and should be done with.Sad that he knew.Why he did even then. I wonder.Stupidity knows no bounds.

[tj]

He "benefitted commercially from his image as a wrestler"? Riiiight. I call bullshit on this one as well. So Michael Phelps should be kicked to the curb for his endorsement deals? Any college athelete? Just how did he benefit from his image -- because he's attractive and has a great physique? So if he went to UN's art department and signed to model for life drawing class, earning some extra bank, he'd be booted as well?

*coughbullshitcough*

[DaveNYC]

I would like to know more about the photo shoot. Did he pose in a wrestler's singlet or was he simply in the showers?

If he didn't appear in his college's wrestler's singlet then they don't have squat to say about it.

I disagree with the poster who said he looked horrid.
The boy looks fine.

To the one who called him conservative etc...I don't know him but he doesn't sound ridiculously conservative and if he is then he learned about being a minority.
Cool.

Modeling...
nude modeling...
nude modeling with a gay theme...
doing gay porn...
These are all jobs.

Get the f--k over it.

I'm surprised at the judgemental queens here who act as if they don't live in a glass house!
HELLO!
I'm sure you all have done much worse.

[DaveNYC]

DAMN! That boy is hung!
And it's all pretty!

[wisconsinhiker]

Bullshit is bullshit, even more so when a young man who needs a few bucks poses naked. I'm not a porn addict, don't even really get into jock porn, but I don't care. If he's cool with it, and guys are willing to pay to see it, who gives a fuck. It's called capitalism, and if he's cool with some anonymous gay guy jacking off to pictures of him naked, so be it. Given his personal life story, I'd feel like shit if that was the only way he could pay his way to higher education. It's not something I'd patronize on principal. I'm one of those liberal freaks who think that anyone with potential should have their college education paid for them. I think it benefits our society. If the option for him was eating and paying rent along with paying for an education, or dropping out, it's us we have to blame. One of his strong points is his dismissive attitude towards homophobia. In the best of worlds his education and life would be off the radar for all of us, but given the way things are run in this fucked up world, I wish him the best and hope he whoops some homophobic Nebraska ass.

[neonbabyblue]

besides, that dude is hung like a moose. i think he should do more porn.

[jason8219]

I don't think any Nebraska wrestler is in his bracket. I wonder how his former teammates are reacting to it.

[Keith]

well he is NOT hung like a moose!!!!! lol........but we all have opinions on cock sizes don't we???!

and i agree with the poster who said he did what he did and likely knew the consequences!

so be it.

[Reader]

WHAT YOU DO IN THE DAR EVENTUALLY COMES TO LIGHT!

BUT THAT SUX HE GOT STRIPPED FOR HIS SCHOLARSHIP!

ATLEAST HES BACK ON HIS FEET.

COURAGE!

[Sammy]

Yeah yeah, he should not apologize etc etc. leaving all that aside, can we now see those pictures already?

[Terry]

If this was a female who did an adult film who was say a cheerleader, and the university found out, I suspect she'd get the boot too. I don't think it's a gay issue, I think it's a porn issue.

[Chase]

This sucks so much, I am from Nebraska and trust I wish we could have kept him around here...damn these midwestern states

[joseph]

Well as someone who works in the sex industry.I see nothning wrong with it as long as he is over 18 and just taking pictures nude.Come on people lets get real.Girls do it also but then they are looked upon differently.I was also told to use what you have while someone stills wants it.Cause young good looking doesn't last forever.I would have much rather him do the modeling.Then for him to go to admissions office and ask for loan. When he wasn't actually sexual with anyone in the pictures.We have taken some kind of nude pictures.If you really want to be realistic about it or showed someone or private area on cam.(HONESTLY.)Times have to change.And the way people make money are changing.We can't afford to bail everyone out.Companies going under just about every day.

[Mike]

I'm not surprised this wrestler got into so much trouble. Universities apparently can exercise more control over a student's life than you would think fair and legal. While the wrestler has the added burden of being an NCAA athlete, the average Joe College Student can be suspended or kicked out for a minor indiscretion, even one that occurs off campus. Student activism in the Sixties forced schools to revamp their outmoded "in loco parentis" philosophy, but some colleges maintain more of a say over a student's life than you would expect.

[Invex]

These two wrestlers were tossed off the team for one reason and one reason only - Athletic Director Tom Osborne. Osborne has been leading an anti-porn campaign in Nebraska for at least a decade. The motto is "Real Men Don't Use Porn". Every now and then you'll see a billboard from the freeway or an ad on late night TV. If you were a star on his football team when he was coaching, a felony or two was OK but look at a Playboy, or worse...*gasp*...a Playgirl and there's hell to pay. With Osborne as the AD, these kids never stood a chance.

[topamerjoc]

He has every reason to be proud of himself and his sport. He is showing off all of his best aspects for which he should be proud. He has worked hard and it shows in his good looks and strong fit body. Bravo to the successful JOCKS.

[Jeff]

Joe, you're on the internet. Use it for something other than porn, sometime. ;-)
Seriously. You can do a quick search and find all kinds of heteros that were sacked & suffered all kinds of consequences for posing nude, accessing porn sites, etc. I guess it's entirely possible that there's someone out there who's never heard of such, but - still surprising to me.
Call it unfair... call it puritan... call it what you like- but it's not a "gay issue".

[James]

So, the author hopes this guy puts a Nebraska wrestler's "head through the floor." Great! Is it ok if it's one of the guys who supported him? This statement reduces the credibility of the entire article.

[Randy]

Hey that's my almamater!

[blah2323]

Those who use the race card or gay card are Liberal whiners looking for someone to blame other than themselves...

okay, yes, I agree that this is not right. But seriously, why do we always pull the gay card "being on a gay website instead of a straight one"? The fact is being on a website in general, gay, straight, whatever the case may be. Every time something happens, everyone gets themselves all worked up and claims that it's just because we're gay. I am an out and proud homosexual, but I don't find it necessary to have gay pride to celebrate our orientation, they don't have straight day! Also, every time something happens to a gay person it's because we are gay, and it is wrong. Yes there are some exceptions where we really are being discriminated against, but not all situations are like that. It's 2009 lets get past this phase of blaming all of our issues on other people and take responsibility of our own actions, and that includes posing nude on a porn site.

[blah2323]

good point:

Joe, you're on the internet. Use it for something other than porn, sometime. ;-)
Seriously. You can do a quick search and find all kinds of heteros that were sacked & suffered all kinds of consequences for posing nude, accessing porn sites, etc. I guess it's entirely possible that there's someone out there who's never heard of such, but - still surprising to me.
Call it unfair... call it puritan... call it what you like- but it's not a "gay issue".

[J]

Playing the gay card a bit too much, arent ya?

They would've kicked him out for being on a straight porn website too. It's just what they gotta do.

[Bill]

any other links to the evidence (pics) ??

[Mike]

I am so proud of him for refusing to apologize. First - he needed money and I'd think a nude photo shoot for quick cash is much better than selling steroids in the locker room. Secondly - from all accounts, he was not out promoting his pictures or the website. Thirdly - he was not engaging in any sexual acts in the photos. Am so glad he's moved on and doing great. Hope at his new college he gets voted Most Valuable Player and helps them win state and/or national championship. America has got to get over this prudish attitude about nudity.