Jeff Roberson / AP file

St. Louis coach Rick Majerus became embroiled in a manufactured controversy that has more to do with freedom of speech, writes msnbc.com contributor Bryan Burwell.

A lot of people think this is a simple issue of an employee being told by his boss that he needs to watch what he says. But that’s not the case, since the Missouri Supreme Court ruled several years ago that St. Louis University was not run by the Catholic Church. The real heart of this story is a simple matter of freedom of speech.

We’re in a strange time and place in this country, where too many people can’t quite get the hang of the concept of what free speech means anymore. It does not mean you can yell “fire” in a crowded room. Nor does it mean that you can rattle off a stream of socially offensive insults without consequence. I should know. Several years ago when I was on local radio, I reeled off a profanity-laced diatribe in response to an offensive caller, and I was suspended without pay for a few days.

When it comes to true freedom of speech, I’ve always believed most educated people, regardless of their political or religious beliefs, know and respect the value of free speech. As a child of the 1960s and ’70s, I came from an era where the notion of socially conscious athletes and coaches were considered admirable, though controversial figures. From Muhammad Ali to Arthur Ashe, from Billie Jean King to Bill Bradley, from John Thompson to Dean Smith, these courageous men and women were always willing to step out and speak up.

You don’t have to agree with a man's or woman’s politics to admire their resolve. In fact, one of the best things that ever happened to this country was when athletes set the tone for a country where we used to feel it was not only a right, but also a duty to be visible participants in the political process.

What happened in the Majerus-Burke flap was not about two men with differing opinions on two hot political and religious issues. This was about one man — Burke — trying to flex his muscles to silence the opinions of another man, and that’s not what free speech in America is supposed to be about.

There are many new political voices in today’s sports world, and surprisingly many of them have gone from ultra liberal to staunch conservatives. In 2005, when the state of Missouri had embryonic stem cell research on the ballot, several pro athletes such as quarterback Kurt Warner and pitcher Jeff Suppan decided it was their political right to put their faces and voices on a TV commercial opposing the measure. After the Cardinals won the World Series, I had a brief conversation with Suppan, a Cardinals pitcher, and I told him I disagreed with his politics but admired his guts to express them publicly.

That’s how the world should be. Respect people’s right to voice their political opinions even if you respectfully disagree with them. Instead of seeking ways to muzzle these voices, we should be finding ways to encourage more public figures to get involved in the process. I wish other athletes and coaches would embrace the spirit of the activist athletes of the 1960s. Imagine the power and influence that many of these athletes could carry if they chose to spend as much energy in social and political movements as they invest in shilling sneakers and energy drinks.

I just pray that episodes like this manufactured nonsense with Majerus don’t drive these already reluctant athletes and coaches even further into their own personal cocoons.

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