For Gonzalez, PETA’s position on fur is the naked truth
P.E.T.A.
In this photo released Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, by The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, shows Atlanta Falcons' Tony Gonzalez and his wife October posing nude for an animal rights ad campaign. Tight end Tony Gonzalez and his wife posed in the nude for a new PETA anti-fur advertisement, a striking departure from former quarterback Michael Vick's gruesome dogfighting operation.
Tony G's PETA pose
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Here’s a change in Atlanta: A Falcons player showing some love for animals.
Former Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez and his wife, October, have posed in the nude for an anti-fur advertisement from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
The long-running PETA campaign has relied on star power in an attempt to persuade people not to wear furs or other clothing made from animal hides. Other celebrities who have posed in the buff were Dennis Rodman, Pamela Anderson and Dominique Swain. Paul McCartney and Charlize Theron also have been part of the campaign, but they appeared clothed.
“It looks good,” Gonzalez said Wednesday of the ad. “It’s something me and my wife talked about. It’s something we feel very strongly about. That’s a great cause, especially when you educate yourself and find out what is happening out there in the world.”
It’s quite a contrast to Michael Vick’s gruesome dogfighting operation and all the turmoil that caused the Falcons.
Receiver Roddy White remembers the uproar. When the team reported for its first day of training camp in 2007, there were animal rights protesters at the front gate and a small plane circling overhead, pulling a banner that said: “New team name? Dog Killers?”
Gonzalez said he was appalled when he saw pictures and videos provided by PETA, which claims that animals whose fur is used in clothing are sometimes beaten, strangled, stomped, electrocuted or even skinned alive.
“I’ve never done something like this before. I’m usually not a political person,” said the 10-time Pro Bowler, who holds the NFL record for most receptions by a tight end. “The pictures I saw were pretty gruesome, pretty cruel. If done the right way, maybe. But done the way I saw it, it’s definitely inhumane.”
While prepared to take some good-natured gibes from his teammates, Gonzalez is serious about the anti-fur campaign. He became interested in animal rights issues about three years ago and went on a vegan diet during the season, giving up meats or even foods that come from animals.
Gonzalez didn’t last long as a vegan. He abandoned it after three or four weeks, saying the diet caused him to “lose a little too much weight.” But he became more conscious of the meats he consumed and wound up writing a book about his methods, “The All-Pro Diet.”
“I eat a little meat now, but it comes from clean sources: grass-fed cows, free-range chickens, wild fish, stuff like that,” he said. “I’m OK with it as long as you do it humanely.”
If nothing else, Gonzalez and his wife have provided a different face (and then some) for those animal lovers who might have still been harboring a negative image of the Falcons.
| The Associated Press
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