Ex-Packer LeRoy Butler loses church appearance over Jason Collins tweet

LeRoy Butler lost a speaking engagement at a Wisconsin church for tweeting a congrats to Jason Collins on coming out. (Allen Kee/Getty Images)

Former Green Bay Packers safety LeRoy Butler had his speaking engagement at a Wisconsin church cancelled on Tuesday after the Pastor reportedly told him to ask God for forgiveness for tweeting a "congrats" to Jason Collins for coming out.

According to Butler's tweets over the last 24 hours, a member of the Church told him to "check the moral cause" and referenced the tweet about Collins. The former Packers safety was told to apologize, remove the tweet and ask God for forgiveness if he wanted to speak at the Church, an opportunity that would have earned him $8,500.

In a report Wednesday from the Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal, Butler said the Church tried to apologize for the comments, which he said he would accept but he will no longer consider speaking at the Church. The talk he was supposed to give at the Church was about bullying, and Butler said the Pastor is exemplifying a form of bullying by trying to get him to apologize for his congratulations to Collins.

"This is a form of bullying, what you're doing. You're trying to get me to do something I don't want to do. He disagreed, and I said, 'We agree to disagree' and he said 'No, I'm right and you're wrong.' "

Butler, who spent much of his childhood in a wheelchair or in leg braces, retired from the NFL in 2001 after a 12-year career with the Packers. He intercepted 38 passes in 181 games, won a Super Bowl in 1997 and was a four-time All-Pro selection.

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