Paul Johnson haz a funny… and then apologizes.
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson, whose oft-unfettered tongue and unwillingness to back down to rival Georgia have earned him the admiration of Tech fans, apologized for a poor choice of words on his radio show Tuesday night.
Near the end of his show, a caller, presumably a Georgia Bulldogs fan, came on the air and said, “Hello? Hello?” and then began barking before either hanging up or being cut off. Johnson responded, “Hello? Hello? He just got off from Walmart.”
Johnson, who earlier in the day had commented how most Georgia fans he encounters are cordial, said, “Anybody who calls into a radio show and barks is either retarded or doesn’t have a life.”
After the show, Johnson said he meant his response as a joke, “but it was a poor choice of words on my part and I sincerely apologize. It was not my intention to offend anyone.”
Advocates for people with mental disabilities have campaigned to stop the use of the word “retard” or “retarded” as a slur, calling it hurtful and dehumanizing.
I hope he has to waste time this week dealing with the PC hordes. And look at the bright side, Jacket faithful: if your team loses, you can blame it on your coach being distracted by that.
Get The Picture 
As a jacket fan, you must find the good in any situation.
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Or twist the bad around in 32 different ways until you’ve convinced yourself it’s not that bad after all.
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Woof!
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If a Georgia Tech coach uses a slur on the radio and nobody’s listening, is it still offensive?
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+1
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+1
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If Johnson was actually someone important in college football, this might have caused a backlash.
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Please, please bring this up in the telecast on national TV
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Exactly what I was thinking. But since nobody cares about Georgia Tech football, this is a non-story.
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Paul the Johnson says something true and funny, and gets into trouble for it. The guy was a retard.
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Can we not now differentiate the terms? People who are “retarded” are like the fan calling in just to bark. People with disabilities are “mentally handicapped”. Can we not recognize the difference?
Same with “gay” and “homosexual”. Calling something gay, at least to me, is different than calling it homosexual in nature. They are different words with different meanings. One is derogatory for people acting like nitwits. The other is descriptive of a particular human condition.
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After this week, sure. 😉
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Nitwit Pride Parade? vs. Homosexual Pride Parade? 😉
LOL …. I got the week off …. family here… too much time on my hands?
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I work with someone who has a son with Down Syndrome. He went to everyone at work and asked them to please be respectful and not use the R word because it offends him and his wife. It’s not a problem for me because I have never developed the habit of using the word.
Other employees use the word around him to this day. They don’t intend to do it, but it just comes out in normal conversation. He believes people do it just to be mean, but they don’t.
People at work complain to me about having to watch what they say around him. I think everyone makes a bigger deal out of it than it needs to be. By them complaining, they are being as sensitive as him and his R word correctness. The guy has a mentally retarded son, the least I can do is not say retarded if it offends him. It’s not that difficult.
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Or the guy could just deal with it and stop being a complete vagina
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Wow. That was really gay! AND really over the top and uncalled for. Now stop being a dick and try being a little bit more considerate. Now that you’ve gotten the response you were looking for move along………
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+1. It ain’t that hard to be nice to people, people.
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I referred to myself as feeling ‘retarded’ to a good friend once. Her little brother has Down Syndrome and it crushed her heart. Although I tend to thumb my nose at requests for political correctness I’d rather avoid a repeat of that situation.
But I don’t think PJ is an ass for that particular gaffe. He had that legacy cemented some time ago.
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You have overstepped the boundaries of common decency. Your “act like nitwits” comment was totally demeaning to nitwits everywhere. On behalf of all nitwits worldwide I demand an apology. Otherwise we will boycott all of your future posts and file suit against you in Federal Court alleging systemic discrimination by you against nitwits. Govern yourself accordingly.
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What’s wrong with working at WalMart?
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Because everybody knows you never go full retard?
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“Advocates for people with mental disabilities have campaigned to stop the use of the word “retard” or “retarded” as a slur, calling it hurtful and dehumanizing.”
NOW THATS JUST RETARDED!!!!
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Wonder how Paul said “retard”
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Now we wait for the column from Bradley or Schultz saying that, since CPJ is such a genius, his actions weren’t unprofessional a la Grantham’s recent actions, but a calculated move to somehow find a way to beat UGA.
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As always known, CPJ’s epitaph when all is said and done will read “I hate Georgia”.
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PJ is an unsufferable Smart Ass.
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Smart?
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CPJ fits right in at North Avenue Dump with his superiority comrades. LOL
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Those responses by CPJ made in jest are usually what really people have within their heart and soul.
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CPJ has a facial expression that embodies the whole GT nation. LOOK AT IT. He seem to have just taken a bite of sour gum. LOL
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Has there ever been a more perfect match between coach and fan base? Arrogant. Snobbish. Not nearly as good as he thinks he is. Smug. I will enjoy watching him lose on Saturday.
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Thank you Coach “little” Johnson
You just made me feel liberated and free to be as frik’n obnoxious as I damn well want on Saturday. I usually I feel bad when I point out to the nerds that their moms dress them funny , or that I’ve been known to hire Tech grads just so I can have the pleasure of firing them,,or that the head on their penis is not just to keep their hands from slipping off when their jacking off. Usually I feel bad about the multitude of insults that steam unfiltered from my mouth at this game but not this year . Thank you Coach little Johnson
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Sure you do. 😉
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point taken. I don’t feel bad exactly but I worry I may step over some line . This year there is no line because the retarded fat bastard started it… Again thank you Coach”little” Johnson
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Why respond to a caller like that? Sort of like the “first” you see on comments to AJC writers.
Why would any Bulldog fan call into a Tech show. Let them have their say. Most Dawgs spend time with the Dawg faithful.
In conclusion both caller and coach drop into the “class” of “immature”. The class is down the hall, meets every day, be on time, and associate with Muschamp, Franklin, Corso, Spurrier, and the legions of others.
Two more Dawgs. Do no worry about the polls. You want those wins over these next two teams. God Bless Larry Munson.
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I missed what triggered the rant against Paul Johnson this morning by Nick Chilini at 790 the Zone. What I heard was Chilini’s explanation about how he and everyone else at the station gets along and has professional relationships with all coaches & players except for two people: Bobby Knight and Paul Johnson. I think the Techies were complaining because of 790 having lots of Georgia players and coaches interviewed by them but no one from Tech. Johnson got pissed about some slight and has forbidden his players and coaches from talking to the people there. A true class act.
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Hearing the Tech fanbase complain about 790 not sucking their johnsons at every turn is nothing short of hilarious. There are multiple threads on The Hive and Stingtalk every year complain that they should get a new station, but really, what are their alternatives?
1690?
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I was listening and Chilini mentioned Jim Mora as a jagoff as well.
I’d imagine Little Johnson will be punching people in the face at his fishfry again this weekend following the ballgame.
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They should know better. They should just open their own TV and radio stations. I guess the problem is getting advertising revenues. Don’t they have very rich, smart and intelligent alums to pay for it, CEO’s of big successful companies.
Or their alums are smart and intelligent enough to recognize losing projects. They know that nobody in their sound mind and senses will listen. LOL
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Nobody at AJC tries to bring down GT. There is nothing to bring down anyway as they never rose to expectations, no matter how loud they whine. They are non entity in the talking mix. GT news do not create hits or sells.
Media will always try to punch holes on more visible teams like UGA especially when the team is down. UGA stuff always create hits and sells.
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That so called apology of CPJ is just saving face. He actually learned that from the GT fan base. What do you expect from them who think of themselves as classy and intelligent. It is no different from celebrities and politicians using the N word and later apologizing when they find themselves at risk of losing their jobs.
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I’m not offended cuz I’m not the sensitive type, but the “working at Wal Mart” meme is so annoying.
One of the things I MOST hate about Tech is the mistaken idea by Techies that Georgia grads are intellectually & professionally inferior. Except for Engineering and Architecture, why in the HELL would anyone go to that damn trade school on North Avenue? And who the hell wants to be an Engineer anyway?
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Think we should show sensitivity toward the term since many who are afflicted appear on this blog every day.
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So what’s the politically correct word for “Man-Tits”? What a complete arrogant @$$hole, Tech deserves this P.O.S., hope he stays forever.
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“So what’s the politically correct word for “Man-Tits”?
When you’re at Daytona, it’s “Steve Spurrier.”
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