by John Rocker

I read an article last week that really got my blood boiling and my brain firing on all cylinders. A few months ago, ESPN posed one of the most incredibly patronizing questions to San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, father of six children with a seventh one on the way, when he sat down with them to discuss burning questions supposedly on the minds of sports fans everywhere.

“Six kids? Regardless of your profession, it’s impossible to be a good parent to six kids. Not enough hours in the day.”

Considering that having six children was pretty ordinary for our grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ generations, and few of them made nowhere near the type of money Philip Rivers makes in a year, I think that question is a lot of BS.

Rivers, to his credit, showed a lot of class in his response to that asinine question:

“It’s a two-year rotation: Once the diapers come off of one, we usually have a newborn. And we have another one on the way, due in October. I help when I can, but my wife, Tiffany, is the key. My big, growing family keeps everything balanced and grounded. My oldest is 11 now, and the kids are getting into football. They’re Daddy’s biggest fans, and they don’t get on you as bad as most fans. If you throw an interception, they still love you.”

The funny thing about this whole scenario is that Rivers is not the only NFL player with a gaggle of ankle biters. Not by a long shot. The difference is that all of his children he had with the same woman, whom he was and still is married to. The others are men with six or more kids by multiple women, and very few of these players have ever called any of their “baby mommas” the love of their life.

But you rarely see players who possess such flimsy character receive the type of derision that was bestowed upon Rivers. Instead the elephant in the room representing immorality and blatant teenage irresponsibility is largely and intentionally ignored by the same individuals who questioned Rivers’ moral life choice.

Why the insane double standard? Without even elaborating, the answer should be blatantly obvious. The overwhelming majority of these carelessly fertile players are black, and media, in their insane obsession to hold the black community to a different standard, refuse to report on this disgusting reality lest the insurmountable “race” card be played. It is a sad day in this PC kindergarten country of ours when the simple act of reporting a factual reality is considered racist.

Philip Rivers, on the other hand, is a straight, white male who also happens to be a devout Catholic. If there’s one thing the media hate, it’s straight, moral, white Christians with a large and healthy family.

Just compare the contempt that specific reporter had in asking Rivers the question with how Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was treated when news broke that one of his kids was cruelly beaten to death.

Peterson was depicted as the Father of the Year and a victim of a vicious tragedy all throughout the media. While the senseless murder of a small child results in a special place in hell for the perpetrator, Peterson was certainly not the saintly father the media first portrayed him as.

The fact came out that the only time he had ever seen his son was when he was in a coma, and he only found out he was the biological father a few days before his son passed away. It also came out that he has approximately six other children, all of them conceived out of wedlock and all of them with different women. That doesn’t sound like the profile of the ideal father to me. Not a bad game plan, however, if you’re attempting to one day have your very own football team named “The Petersons.”

But if you think this would make defending the 2012 NFL MVP almost impossible, you seriously underestimate the incredulity of American liberals. Left-wing website Think Progress rushed to defend Peterson and shrieked at the “stereotyping” that a few journalists were engaging in by noting that Peterson was representing the obvious example of absentee black fathers who don’t know how many kids they actually have and never bother getting to know them. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. Stereotypes are there for a reason. They don’t just create themselves . Reporting facts that perpetuate a stereotype doesn’t make you a racist; it makes you a promoter of reality.

Think Progress dismisses theses criticisms without even considering their merit. Black absentee fathers are a notable problem in this country, with nearly 70 percent of African-Americans born out of wedlock and many of them never knowing the man responsible for giving them life. Think about how much better the inner cities/urban areas of America would be if these kids grew up with fathers who could help raise and teach them the basics of life.

But maybe that’s too much to expect when their role models in the NFL are doing the exact same thing and are responsible for more than their fair share of bastard children.

Thankfully, there is at least one NFL player who sets a great example for what a father should be and manages to take care of all of his children in a healthy, family environment.

His name is Philip Rivers, and we should celebrate him as the role model for our children instead of the irresponsible, morally deficient clowns that are now all too common in professional sports today.

John Rocker, a Major League Baseball pitcher for six years, is the author of “Scars and Strikes.” After retiring from baseball, Rocker embarked upon a successful career in real estate development.