Bruins Goalie Thomas Pleads the Fifth

AP PHOTO / THE CANADIAN PRESS, FRED CHARTRAND

Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas posted an eye catching quote about his stance on religion on his Facebook account last week.

“I stand with the Catholics in the fight for Religious Freedom," Thomas posted. Thomas continued, quoting Martin Niemöller, a prominent German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor. "In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up,"

The posting comes weeks after Thomas caught heat from media, fans and members of the Boston Bruins organization for not attending the team’s celebratory Stanley Cup championship trip to the White House. The Bruins Vezina winning goaltender and 2011 Conn Smythe Trophy recipient sited political reasons for his noticeable absence.

Confronted by the media in the Bruins locker room, Thomas refused to comment on the situation stating that his Facebook account was his “personal life” and that he would no longer answer questions regarding this topic. Thomas eventually walked away from the media after rejecting several more questions about it.

Bruins beat reporter Joe Haggerty of Comcast Sports Net New England tweeted, “Tim Thomas is pitting free speech and the freedom of the press against the right to remain silent in a cage match. This is fascinating.” This was posted after Thomas’s walked out on the media.

In a phone interview with Boston Globe columnist Chad Finn said, “Anything you post on Facebook you are putting out there for the public to read. It’s not a matter of him accepting you as a friend… it’s a little hypocritical to post and not talk about it.”

Chad added, “to avoid it (asking the question) would be a reporter not doing his or her job.”

Not all of the Boston media felt the importance to ask Thomas about his recent Facebook posts When asked about athlete’s use of social media, Brian McGonagle of Barstool Sports said, “They can consider it personal space, but as very public figures, they should anticipate questions when they make comments about religion and/or politics.

Facebook, while public, is where people go to share their more intimate thoughts and, in my opinion, should be off-limits to reporters unless it's truly controversial or they're doing a feature story… As a credentialed media member, it's not something I would ask him about.”

The larger question is should athletes Facebook and Twitter accounts be considered personal formats and be off limits to media scrutiny? As you can see, the Boston media and Thomas have a differing of opinions.