Texas man says 'Go Cowboys!' at his execution

As Joshua Norman reports for CBS News, the Dallas Cowboys were the subject of Jesse Joe Hernandez's final words, just prior to his execution. He said, "Go Cowboys!" as the lethal injection was administered. Then he said, "I can feel it, taste it. It's not bad."

On Wednesday, Hernandez became the fourth person to be executed in Texas this year. Hernandez, who had a prior conviction for sex crime, was put to death for the murder of a 10-month-old boy in Dallas, Texas.

Norman reports that Hernandez is not alone in uttering final words about favorite sports teams. In 2010, a man from Oklahoma was put to death for a violent crime he was convicted of in Arizona. His last words were, "Boomer Sooner."

It's important to note that in Texas, sex crime cases do not generally involve executions. In the case of Hernandez, he was put to death for murder - but the label "sex offender" adds additional drama to the news stories.

That's why nearly all the headlines, including the source we cite below, include the words "sex offender," not "murderer," which goes to show the overpowering stigma against those who are accused or convicted of sex offenses.

Source: Sex offender before execution: "Go Cowboys!"