Football Star Urlacher Paints Son's Toes, Puts Him In Pink Diapers: Mother

Football tough guy Brian Urlacher dresses his son in pink Cinderella diapers and paints the 3-year-old's toenails blue, the child's mother charged in Will County court Tuesday.

The mother, Tyna Robertson, threatened to block Urlacher from seeing the boy if the beefy linebacker kept up the alleged effeminate antics.

Robertson was in court on an emergency motion brought by Urlacher's attorney, Anita Ventrelli. While Robertson was there, her own lawyer, Alice Wilson, petitioned to have the case moved to Cook County.

Wilson had argued that since Urlacher lives in Lake County and Robertson recently moved from Bolingbrook to Burr Ridge, there is no point in keeping the case in Will County. Robertson also figures she could get a better shake in Cook, and took a shot at the judge handling her case in Will County.

Read the entire article.

Comments

[EricWI]

What is amazing about this story is that Tyna Robertson assumes the right to block the relationship between Urlacher and his son over such a trivial issue. No parent should have such a right and a just family court would toss the assertion out as frivolous.

[RockySoldier]

crazy woman ruining the reputation of her ex.

broken record. happens a million times a day across the world.

[Horus]

Bingo

[Ogiv]

JustSteve's post bears repeating to get the story straight.

"And here's the rest of the silly story -- if anyone cares.

Urlacher's daughters (slightly older) were painting their nails and the son wanted to have his toe nails painted too... so they painted them blue...

And Urlacher had run out of boys pull ups on one occasion in August. One of his daughters is three as well and is still in pull ups. So he used one of those.

There's a good article in the Chicago Tribune that is worth reading if anyone actually cares. There is a lot more to this story than you see in this reading."

[zachman]

This all may sound a little strange, but maybe that's because we're not used to hearing about a big butch football guy breaking down gender barriers a bit. Maybe he wants his kid to be raised with a free mind? Who knows? But I commend a guy like that who's not afraid to go there. He seems like a cool guy to me.

[Steamboater]

Urlacher can paint my toes anytime! Woof!!!!!!!!!!!

He shouldn't be doing this though to his young son although blue toe nails are not exactly glitter. Kids today do their hair red, blue etc and no one blinks. Mom's take their kids to kid's outtings where they do this too. If the panties are pink so what? If they have ruffles, that's something else. Urlach and his wife are going through a divorce and in a divorce all kids of charges are made to make one partner appear negatively. Who knows what's going on in that relationship?

[unpleasantville]

Who cares? Children should be allowed to wear whatever colors they like, and if they want to have paint on their nails, its up to them. It's us and our rabidly homophobic and gender-labeling culture that has the serious issues, here. The reaction to this is fascinating. We need to go beyond pink and blue and to instill in our children sane and healthy ideas of gender.

[BritbornAmerican]

LOL fruitcake.... i knew that steroids cloud judgment... look at my boys pretty toes!

[AndyDandy]

Fruitcake..... Is that wishfull thinking on your part?

[Eric8869]

Anyone who uses the term fruitcake is too old to be using the computer. Tell the grandkids to turn it off now.

[Horus]

The gay police are on to you it seems.

[BushBites]

Not that I care.

But I'd Google "Tyna Robertson" before I'd take any of her charges seriously.

She has a history and people should consider the source.

[hopefull2008]

"She has a history ..." ... you are being very kind to her.

[easarsfield]

lolz . I wouldn't take anything seriously coming from this woman.

yes, this is the same Tyna Robertson that filed a sexual assult lawsuit against the dancer Michael Flatley (lord of the dance guy).

I believe Kanye West wrote a song about her type. Gold digger.

[11907281]

Wow, a pro-football player trying to break down barriers and stereotypes for his kid and this is bad. I wonder if the mom is against inter-racial dating too?

[visualwill]

The whole story is a ruse by the baby's mama. She probably wants him to pay for her move to Burr Ridge.
This is just another example of the court system not enforcing the father's rights. Maybe a stint in lockup would cure her. They'd lock him up in a minute if did not send those $20K/per month child support checks. Just another example of our f***ed up legal system.

[Wilburrr]

What are little kids for? Why have them if you can't dress them like little freaks??

[adamsmith3]

Seriously, if he wants to "break gender roles" then he should do it himself, not do it with his child. Poor kid never asked to be raised like a little girl.

[shutdown]

Please, Adam, help me... I must have missed where he was being "raised like a little girl"? And also tell me.... what is wrong with that?.... and what exactly do you mean "break gender roles"?

[pkafin]

pink diapers do not equate to raising a child "like a little girl". Pink is a color.

Blue toenails? Any kid would find that a hoot.

I think you, adamsmith3 are perhaps a tad to insecure about your own gender identity.

[leftypower]

I know dads who come to work with their nails painted - having been done by their kids. It's a good thing.

[11907281]

Reliving a childhood trauma are we?

[Wilburrr]

... "a"? ..... just....."a"? YOU CAN'T JUDGE ME! Besides..... I'm over it now.

I wanna know where Urlacher got the nail polish.....

[EarthToZoey]

How is that dressing a child "like a little freak"?

Think about this: when did you realize pink was "a girl's color" or that nail polish was "for girls"? Do you think you were born with that knowledge? Or did you receive countless subliminal messages every time you walked down the street, turned on the television, and looks at the products on the store's shelves?

You might find this a radical idea but caging your child into believing things like "the Easy Bake Oven is a girl's toy" conditions them to believe that if anyone thinks differently (including themselves) that they are unacceptable to society.

[Wilburrr]

ya shoulda seen the rest of the outfit....

[QuietNetworker]

This is a reply to a deeply buried comment. I would
like to hear your thoughts about my post - agree or not.

Aurelise, your post is disjointed and problematic.

Part of the challenge is your limiting homophobia to
merely 'anti-gay' when it fact it extends further to an
opposition to people / ideas that do not fit within the
'traditional' gender roles.

So the answer to your question is YES & NO.

A parent who buys their boys action figures...and girls
dolls is not necessarily homophobic, however, if the
same parent wouldn't buy the boy a doll and wouldn't
buy the girl a GI Joe BECAUSE "that's a girls' toy or
that's a boy's toy is absolutely being homophobic and
sexist.

Isn't it obvious that a "toy" doesn't have a gender?
Isn't it obvious that children do imaginative play?

Finally, I suspect you come from white privilege and
that if you are a woman you have failed to be a feminist.

Why do I say that, because you fail to see the systemic
nature of bigotry. Homophobia is more "here" than any
of us know/see. Racial prejudice is "present" more than
any of us know/see. Sexism is "pervasive".

So, generally speaking, the bias of belief should be on
the side of prejudice being real...
...not ignored and discounted.

Warmly,

Paulie Sabol

[keifergodot]

Paulie,
Thank you for this and all of your preceding posts. It's refreshing to read such well-reasoned, enlightened, thoughtful, compassionate, and erudite comments. All spot on!
Keith

[EarthToZoey]

Isn't it funny how if a little girl wears blue it's no big deal? Or if she wore a shirt portraying a comic book hero, like Spiderman or Batman, people would think it's cute and that she being a "tomboy". Again, no big deal.

If a male wears pink -- dear lord, no! That's a GIRL's color! Then, go one step further and dress him in something with Cinderella on it...... he just may become gay!

So, we're color coded? And for some reason it's more appalling for a male to like "female things"? Why should it matter at all?

[QuietNetworker]

Exactly Zoey, this is sexism and homophobia.

In fact, historically, the boy's colour was blue.

The issue of colour and gender is an important fashion
topic and a very complicated one.

Some authors use the modern associations between colors
and genders as a way of determining gender in old paintings.

There is much reason to believe, however, that the blue-for-boys,
pink-for-girls idea is a fairly modern one, even 20th-century one.

Other colors such as the idea that wedding dresses must be
white are fairly recent, many dating to the Victorian era.

So to be even worse, it's tempocentric.

[Aranxa]

This has nothing to do with homophobia or gender bias. It has to do with the animosities that arise in people in divorce and custody disputes. It is just misguided rage that causes one party to say anything about the other in desperate attempts to make them look bad. This is the same as the false allegations of child molestation in custody battles having nothing to do with homophobia.
The stupidity of the claims demonstrates this. Anyone with competent knowledge of child development knows that it is perfectly normal for children of both sexes to play dress up, with no consideration for gender identification. Children like glittery, pretty things whether they are male or female. It is perfectly normal which makes the mother's accusations look even more stupid.

[JustSteve]

And here's the rest of the silly story -- if anyone cares.

Urlacher's daughters (slightly older) were painting their nails and the son wanted to have his toe nails painted too... so they painted them blue...

And Urlacher had run out of boys pull ups on one occasion in August. One of his daughters is three as well and is still in pull ups. So he used one of those.

There's a good article in the Chicago Tribune that is worth reading if anyone actually cares. There is a lot more to this story than you see in this reading.

[adamsmith3]

You make good points, but fair or not, these stereotypes exist.....and you don't use your kid to break the stereotypes because your kid doesn't have a choice. If you want to break gender roles, do it yourself, don't do it with your kid.

[leftypower]

I disagree. We pass all our beliefs on to our children.

[sauceruney]

And what comes of this child as he grows older with everyone he comes into contact with knowing this may have been done?

It's an allegation which deserves no public airing.

[QuietNetworker]

The fact that a child may encounter bias and prejudice has
been addressed at the level of the law.

http://supreme.justia.com/us/466/429/case.html

Where the court wrote: The effects of racial prejudice, however real,
cannot justify a racial classification removing an infant child from the
custody of its natural mother.

The Constitution cannot control such prejudice, but neither can it
tolerate it. Private biases may be outside the reach of the law, but the
law cannot, directly or indirectly, give them effect.

Where the court spoke of the Constitution and the law of the land,
I suggest that what is true for the state, is also true for the fourth
estate (the press).

The allegations were made in OPEN COURT.
The damage (if any) was done by the MOTHER but is not a damage
the press can indirectly give effect by "hiding"

When I was a young boy, I used to wish to be able to wear items
like the sons.

To me the only "reason" that these 'allegations' should even be
heard is if the "father" is somehow punishing the son for not being
"Man enough"...

You know the ol' "Fine if you're going to be a little girl, I'll dress
you like one" mindset.

Warmly,

Paulie Sabol

[EarthToZoey]

I agree, Paulie. If the father's actions were meant to emotionally "punish" the son then it could be construed as abuse.

[Octoberluna]

I don't understand your post.

Are you saying that because this 3 yr old had blue toenail polish and once wore a "girls" diaper that his future is forever tainted because the world is aware of his shame?

Can you please clarify your point?

They tell me I once pooped in the tub when I two, should I still be moratlly ashamed of that?? I don't understand?

[aatgda]

Is this suppose to be a news. And so what?