Colton Underwood discusses his respect for Aly Raisman
NFL free agent tight end Colton Underwood, who was undrafted and has been previously signed as an by the San Diego Chargers, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Oakland Raiders, has broken his silence about his ex-girlfriend, two-time Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman.
Underwood, 26, recently competed on the 14th season of The Bachelorette, but he did not discuss his previous relationship with the 24-year-old Needham, Massachusetts native despite pressure from fans to do so and despite the fact that those same fans also pressured her to do so.
Raisman and Underwood dated one another from December of 2016 through June of 2017. Underwood just revealed his reason for keeping quiet about her during his appearance on The Bachelorette, and this reason is quite commendable. Here is what he had to say about why he did not discuss her, according to Refinery29.
"To be very candid about it, she’s going through enough right now. She doesn’t deserve to be in this at all. I have so much love and respect for Aly and the voice that she is and the role model that she is for every young woman out there. She and all of her friends — and everything they have done — has honestly moved our society in such a positive way and such a positive direction."
The six-time Olympic medalist and three-time Olympic gold medalist is one of the more than 300 people who has accused 54-year-old disgraced USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University physician Larry Nassar of sexual assault under the guise of medical treatment.
Raisman accused Nassar of sexual assault this past November, and she has been one of the most outspoken critics if not the most outspoken critic of the people and institutions that protected, defended and enabled his predatory actions, including USA Gymnastics, Michigan State and the United States Olympic Committee, for more than two decades.
Nassar has been issued three prison sentences for his actions. He was issued a federal prison sentence for 60 years on three child pornography charges, which he is currently serving at United States Penitentiary, Tucson in Tucson, Arizona, in addition to a state prison sentence for between 40 and 175 years on seven sexual assault charges and another state prison sentence for between 40 and 125 years on three more sexual assault charges.
He was issued these three prison sentences this past December, January and February, respectively.
In addition to delivering a scathing victim impact statement that received national attention almost immediately during Nassar's seven-day January sentencing in Ingham County, Michigan, Raisman delivered an inspiring speech during the ESPY Awards show.
A total of 141 of the people who have accused Nassar of sexual assault took the stage at the ESPY Awards show to accept the 2018 Arthur Ashe Courage Award for the bravery and courage that they demonstrated by speaking out against one of the worst of child sexual predators if not the worst child sexual predator in the history of mankind.