Former Green Bay Packer Reggie White, an ordained minister who caused an uproar with remarks involving racial stereotypes and homosexuals, did not back down when he was interviewed by Up Close host Gary Miller in Los Angeles Wednesday.

White also said Braves reliever John Rocker did not deserve to be suspended for his controversial remarks about homosexuals and racial minorities.

If you missed White's appearance, you can read the edited transcript or watch the streaming video of White. White was a guest as part of Up Close's recognition this week of Black History Month.

Miller: What did you think about the firing of Ray Rhodes after just one season with an 8-8 record?

	White retired after the '98 season as the league's all-time sack leader.

White: Well, I think Ray should have been given more than one year, I can't necessarily say it was an issue of Ray being black, namely because Ron Wolf went out and hired him, not as a black coach but as a coach that he felt was qualified. It did bother me, and Ron and I have a great relationship, but it did bother me when they asked Ron if Ray was the coach that he thought he was and Ron said "No." That kind of bothered me a little bit.

When you look at the situation, Mike Sherman is the new head coach, he's been in the NFL for three years, and of course I was in Green Bay when Mike was there. He's a wonderful guy. I don't know what type of coach he is, because I never really got to observe him. Mike has been in the league for three years and one of the things that was mentioned when he got that job was that he had been in the league for three years and that he didn't call the plays under Mike (Holmgren, in Seattle).

And I think in many respects that the media, when it came to (former Packers offensive coordinator) Sherman Lewis, that they actually got him OUT of a job, because they said that he was coaching under Mike (Holmgren) and it was going to be hard for him to get a job. And I think that some of the media undermined Sherman getting a job, and at the top of his career as an assistant coach and having an opportunity to get a job, he didn't get one, and the excuse was, "well, he was an offensive coordinator, but he wasn't the one who called the plays." But Mike Sherman didn't call the plays also (under Mike) and he got a job.

Miller: So you think there is some discrimination?

White: Oh, yeah, big time, and I think there are some owners who don't want black coaches.

Miller: Why?

White: Because they feel comfortable around their own.

(Regarding his controversial speech to the Wisconsin State Assembly, in which he used stereotypes about whites, blacks, Asians, Hispanics and also criticized homosexuality).

Miller: Do you think that you were singled out because some people feel that white people can't make statements without being attacked as a racist and they said, "oh, here we have a black guy who's making ethnic generalities," do you think that's why it took on much more proportion than it deserved?

White: I think the reason it took on that much proportion, and I was shocked it took on that much proportion, wasn't what I said about ethic races, because I got no pressure from any ethnic organizations, it was what I said about homosexuality. And really not what I said about homosexuality, but what the Bible says.

I will admit that as a black man it bothers me that the homosexual agenda has tried to piggyback off the Civil Rights movement. I mean our people were oppressed for over 200 years for the color of their skin, and I watch TV programs, I read newspapers and I see things to where the homosexual agenda, and I emphasize the word agenda, is trying to piggyback off what our people fought for, and that bothers me big time. In many of the schools ... In fact I just got finished talking to a friend of mine who was upset because his daughter, while they were celebrating Black History Month, they had a homosexual in teaching homosexuality during Black History Month.

That's immensely bothersome to me, and I think that in most situations that because of what I preach, if you look at the whole context of the message that I gave the (Wisconsin State) Assembly, I talked about everything. I even got on the church in the speech. So as much as some homosexuals or some liberals want to say that I hate, because my life doesn't show that I hate anybody.

Miller: On of the expressions John Rocker used in his controversial comments to Sports Illustrated was the word "queer" amongst the other people he offended in his speech. He's being vilified nationally -- if they had that system in place (in the NFL) and you made the statement you made about homosexuals, could you see that happening to you, a fine or other repercussions?

White: The difference between my comments and John's comments is that, that's a belief in me, and I'm sure that may be a belief in him too. It's something that I preach against, the SIN of homosexuality. I never called one person's name out yet, the people who criticize me just attack me. I can handle that; they bombarded CBS, they bombarded Nike, they bombarded Campbell's Soup, they bombarded every single organization I worked for and if you noticed, I don't work for them anymore. In many situations, they think they've done me a service by getting me fired.

I'm not going to back down from what I believe in just so I can get paid. That's not Reggie White, I'm going to stand on God's principles, no matter what anybody thinks of me, and if I lose everything that I got standing on principles, I have no problem with that because I'm standing on principles because I know that I'm moving towards a better resurrection anyway because my God owns more than anyone could ever imagine. So I've often told people "I will not lose my inheritance for chump change."

Miller: What did you think personally of the statements that Rocker made?

White: I think some of them were really out of whack. I do think that he shouldn't have been suspended for it. There are people that are doing a whole lot of worse things, that's just how he feels. I would rather know how somebody feels than to be around somebody who's just shucking and jiving me. If John Rocker says what he says, then that can give me a judgment about whether I want to hang around him or not. It's just like a person who's a Klansman. If he doesn't like me, he lets me know that he doesn't like me because I'm black ...

Miller (interrupting): He's less dangerous if you know what he's doing than what he's keeping a secret.

White: A lot of people that believe the same way that I do, they're saying the same things that I'm saying behind closed doors. They end up becoming worse culprits because they can't stand up for what they believe in.