Former Charger Seeks Seat on Sweetwater Schools Board

Though many people want to see corruption and mismanagement cleaned up in the Sweetwater Union High School District, few people stepped into the November 6 election. One interesting candidate who wants to try his hand at the task is a former Chargers player Burt Grossman.

In July, Grossman filed to run against incumbent Pearl Quiñones; by August, he was running against incumbent Bertha Lopez.

In Grossman’s October 21 campaign disclosure filing, the last filing before the election, only two people had contributed to his campaign.

A half-page ad in the October 26 Star News featured pictures of Grossman in his Chargers uniform, of him sitting beside Arne Duncan (secretary of education), and of Grossman beside his wife, two children, and three dogs.

Grossman’s ballot statement says he is currently an assistant program director for Able-Disabled Advocacy.

Another side of Grossman can be found in a book he wrote (“with Bill Kushner”) in 1996, titled, The Way Things Ought to Be.

On education: “I got good grades because if I didn’t, I’d get my knuckles cracked…. I know that the liberal way of educating the young people today differs from the good old-fashioned education I received. Today we can’t discipline the kids and we have got to make everything fair and even. In other words, we can’t hurt anyone’s feelings with a system that rewards the winners and fails the losers… But I understand. Liberal politicians are dependent on the dope vote to keep them in office.”

On high school sports: “And because some gal only weighed 100 pounds doesn’t mean that she should be denied the right to become a part of the NFL. I mean, wacko parents are suing high schools in order for their daughters to be permitted to play football. So let’s be fair about this. Women have rights, too. If a woman can vote, go off and fight in combat zones, why not football. Huh?”

On being gay and playing football: “An open gay policy for the NFL? Of course. Then we could have open gay receivers prancing over the middle instead of running manly patterns. Then we could have openly gay quarterbacks getting behind the center and going on a long, long count.”

On the Chargers: “During my rookie year, I played on one of those really, really, REALLY, sucky teams, the San Diego Chargers.”

On himself: “Sure, I was Catholic, part Jewish, white and handsome, rich and famous, conservative, anti-abortion, straight, and a Rush Limbaugh fan, but even us minorities have the right to a job…. In the end I passed on the lawsuit idea [Grossman had been let go by the 49ers] because sooner or later Jesse Jackson and all the Affirmative Action wackos would get around to straightening out the National Football League.”