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Some believe atmosphere is safe for gay NFL player to come out

Double Barrel

Double Barrel

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Some believe atmosphere is safe for gay NFL player to come out

Based on interviews over the past several weeks with current and former players, I'm told that a current gay NFL player is strongly considering coming out publicly within the next few months -- and after doing so, the player would attempt to continue his career.

I'm told this player feels the time is now for someone to take this step -- despite homophobic remarks from San Francisco 49ers defensive back Chris Culliver and the controversy arising recently at the Indianapolis Scouting combine, when prospects were asked questions about their sexuality.

This player's true concern, I'm told, is not the reaction inside an NFL locker room but outside of it. The player fears he will suffer serious harm from homophobic fans, and that is the only thing preventing him from coming out. My sources will not say who this alleged player is.

Full story
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:worm:
 
It will be a very, very long time before a homosexual comes out in the NFL. JMO and I certainly would never say never, but it's gonna be a long time before it happens.
 
IDEXAN said:
It will be a very, very long time before a homosexual comes out in the NFL. JMO and I certainly would never say never, but it's gonna be a long time before it happens.
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If you say so. A bunch of NFL players (including the immediate past president of the players' association) have made public statements or signed off on briefs supporting the gay marriage cases which will be heard by the S.Ct. this week. Some of them went so far as to have their own brief written in support.
 
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/25/report-gay-player-strongly-considering-coming-out/

Per Freeman, the player fears the reaction not from within the locker room, but from homophobic fans. And that’s a legitimate concern; the combination of paying for a ticket and supporting a team and consuming a little alcohol (or a lot) turns normal people into loud, classless, profane jerks who will do and say anything to get under the skin of the members of the visiting team. And sometimes the members of the home team.
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Yeah, I don't think it's the players as much as the outside influences. I played with guys I suspected were gay..later on after they were done playing the came out...

I didn't feel icky because my locker was stationed next to a gay guy...
 
My money is on Tom Brady, his Justin Bieber haircut along with his head band.

Not that there is anything wrong with it. Being gay that is. There is plenty wrong with the Justin bieber haircut and headband that goes along with it. Plenty wrong.

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
 
This is a tough one. There are a lot of homophobic people out there, and I'm pretty sure that football has more than it's fair share of fans that fall into this category.

Personally, I couldn't care less what someone's sexual orientation is. It's not my business and who am I to tell them that they're wrong? I have noticed that TV shows have incorporated more gay characters into their shows, so people are not as shocked as they used to be. Having said that, there are people out there who won't watch those shows because of that very reason and this anonymous player's concerns about fans boycotting him or his team are very valid.

I think it really boils down to whether or not the player needs to feel validated for being openly gay. There will be backlash to some degree, the severity will just depend on the market that the player plays in. We all know that some places are more acceptable than others.
 
Cjeremy635 said:
This is a tough one. There are a lot of homophobic people out there, and I'm pretty sure that football has more than it's fair share of fans that fall into this category.

Personally, I couldn't care less what someone's sexual orientation is. It's not my business and who am I to tell them that they're wrong? I have noticed that TV shows have incorporated more gay characters into their shows, so people are not as shocked as they used to be. Having said that, there are people out there who won't watch those shows because of that very reason and this anonymous player's concerns about fans boycotting him or his team are very valid.

I think it really boils down to whether or not the player needs to feel validated for being openly gay. There will be backlash to some degree, the severity will just depend on the market that the player plays in. We all know that some places are more acceptable than others.
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The severity will also depend on who the player is. I think there would be a much different reaction if Calvin Johnson or Tom Brady came out as gay as opposed to the Vikings backup left guard or the Browns long snapper.
 
Are you gay? Do you wish you could be a polygamist? Do you worship satan? Cha...I don't CARE if you're a good football player and not hurting anyone or breaking any laws. Some said Earnest Givens was. I don't know if he was or not but it doesn't change my opinion of the fact that he remains my favorite Oiler receiver. Some say Jacoby Jones is. My utter disrespect for Jones wouldn't be altered one bit if he was or wasn't.
 
Personally, It doesn't bother me either way. Do I believe in same sex relationships? Not really, but I've never been one to demean other peoples beliefs.

That said, I do think they'd be harassed more so by the media and fans than actual teammates
 
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/26/ayanbadejo-speaks-at-ally-on-steps-of-supreme-court/

Ayanbadejo speaks at rally on steps of Supreme Court

On Tuesday, the United State Supreme Court took up the question of whether California’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the Constitution.

Outside, Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo spoke at a rally supporting same-sex marriage.

“First and foremost, I have to say I’m not here as a Baltimore Raven,” Ayanbadejo said, via Erik Brady of USA Today. “I’m actually here as a patriot - as a patriot to uphold the Constitution of the United States. . . .
 
Meh, I wouldn't care if a player is openly gay but it could cause trouble in a locker room. I don't think it's right that a person feels that they cannot be who they want to be, but it's their colleagues that do that to them, not the fans really.
 
b0ng said:
Meh, I wouldn't care if a player is openly gay but it could cause trouble in a locker room. I don't think it's right that a person feels that they cannot be who they want to be, but it's their colleagues that do that to them, not the fans really.
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Especially if there are hard-core religious types in the locker room. I can just see the media not just bugging the heck out of the gay dude but asking pointed questions of the guys whose faith is strictly opposed to gay tolerance in any form.

Yeah, the mess will come mainly from the media just to keep some crap stirred up. And keep the phone lines filled and their web-sites jumping.
 
b0ng said:
Meh, I wouldn't care if a player is openly gay but it could cause trouble in a locker room. I don't think it's right that a person feels that they cannot be who they want to be, but it's their colleagues that do that to them, not the fans really.
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I agree with what Obsi is saying about the fact that the media would try to stir things up. I think the actual workplace stuff is overblown. I have worked in several offices in Houston with openly gay people (including having supervised a few) and other than an initial titillation of "did you hear he or she is gay" it was done. No harassment, essentially no comments behind their backs, they weren't shunned from private parties nor while at business events like the Christmas Party when they brought their partner.
 
Football players can be just as capable of being intolerant hypocritical d-bags as anyone else in this country, so yeah, I can see how it could be a problem for some.

But I think drunk morons in the stands are the ones that will really make it difficult for him. Every city has them, and as long as they are paying customers, NFL teams will continue to have low standards in order to take their money.

Free country and all that jazz, but I would not blame him at all for staying in the closet while being an active player in the NFL.
 
There's few if any demographics in this country that expresses its machismo beliefs with more bravado on the one hand and on the other maintains a more enduring belief in its Christian faith than young, male African-Americans who also happen to dominate in the NFL both on its playing fields and in its locker rooms. And lots and lots of things are gonna have to change before the intimacy of those locker rooms is extended to a gay member.
 
I think it would be fine now days. Maybe not on every team or every situation, but I think a player could be fine with being openly gay unless he was out there making political statements and drawing extra attention to the issue. Other then that, I agree with some of the other sentiments that it would be the media that would create every controversial problem that would take place. They'll be stirring the pot like crazy when we see this eventually happen.
 
People analyze this without any consideration beyond "gay."

There are huge differences in circumstances. Player just stops trying to hide it and shows up at a team party/event with his partner. He makes no attempt to say anything in the press about it. If a teammate goes off and makes an issue of it he will look like a giant male chicken in the press. If a guy all the sudden comes in dressed as Ru Paul and wants a press conference then he is going to be ill received.

That is a practical observation.

For a philosophical one: would you really think less of AJ if he came out tomorrow and said he was gay? If so, I think that reflects more on you than him.
 
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infantrycak said:
For a philosophical one: would you really think less of AJ if he came out tomorrow and said he was gay? If so, I think that reflects more on you than him.
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That's too difficult to try and even hypothesize because we know enough about AJ to know that he's got illegits out, who knows maybe gobs of them scattered about ? Give me another name ? Antonio, Kareem, anybody ?
But I'm with the brothers on this one, they don't want to walk around the locker room in the raw knowing another brother in their midst might want to shove his ying-yang up their butt-crack. Hell, they certainly realize they'd enjoy doing just that to a good looking young chick, drippin' wet, steppin out of the shower stall
right in front of them, why would they not assume in these circumstances that a gay brother would also lust for the same ?
 
b0ng said:
Meh, I wouldn't care if a player is openly gay but it could cause trouble in a locker room. I don't think it's right that a person feels that they cannot be who they want to be, but it's their colleagues that do that to them, not the fans really.
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You don't think that this has already happened? That a player is known to be gay in the locker room and everyone just goes about their business?

Its the same situation as when I served in the military- there where guys (and gals) we KNEW were gay; most of us didn't care as long as they did their job.

Pretty sure its the same in the NFL locker room. Just do your job.
 
IDEXAN said:
There's few if any demographics in this country that expresses its machismo beliefs with more bravado on the one hand and on the other maintains a more enduring belief in its Christian faith than young, male African-Americans who also happen to dominate in the NFL both on its playing fields and in its locker rooms. And lots and lots of things are gonna have to change before the intimacy of those locker rooms is extended to a gay member.
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Its very likely those locker rooms have already seen their fair share of gay athletes. It's not as if the the first pro football player to publicly come out means he'll also be the first gay player. The odds of that are very unlikely. It's also unlikely that other teammates didnt know which player(s) are gay.
 
IDEXAN said:
That's too difficult to try and even hypothesize because we know enough about AJ to know that he's got illegits out, who knows maybe gobs of them scattered about ? Give me another name ? Antonio, Kareem, anybody ?
But I'm with the brothers on this one, they don't want to walk around the locker room in the raw knowing another brother in their midst might want to shove his ying-yang up their butt-crack. Hell, they certainly realize they'd enjoy doing just that to a good looking young chick, drippin' wet, steppin out of the shower stall
right in front of them, why would they not assume in these circumstances that a gay brother would also lust for the same ?
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Why is it ASSUMED that gay men want to screw every single straight man that walks by them? Why is it assumed that gay men are promiscuous and not committed to a partner?

Your own post shows that a lot of NFL players have multiple children with multiple women; look at the epidemic of Travis Henry's and Calvin Johnson's.

I have a gay friend who is and has been in a committed relationship for 27 years, another for 13 years, another for 34 yrs....

People need to step into the present and get out of the past.
 
TexanSam said:
Its very likely those locker rooms have already seen their fair share of gay athletes. It's not as if the the first pro football player to publicly come out means he'll also be the first gay player. The odds of that are very unlikely. It's also unlikely that other teammates didnt know which player(s) are gay.
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Don't think so, not an openly gay teammate.
In recent days I've seen and heard atleast 2 ESPN reporters ( Michael Wilbon & J.A. Adande), both of whom are A-A men, say roughly the same thing as I'm saying right here. Not exactly the same, but approximately the same thing. It is an environment than most of us on this Board have no knowledge about, and just because you might be frustrated because pro jocks don't share your values & attitudes on this subject, too bad, don't make it any less true than it is.
 
IDEXAN said:
Don't think so, not an openly gay teammate.
In recent days I've seen and heard atleast 2 ESPN reporters ( Michael Wilbon & J.A. Adande), both of whom are A-A men, say roughly the same thing as I'm saying right here. Not exactly the same, but approximately the same thing. It is an environment than most of us on this Board have no knowledge about, and just because you might be frustrated because pro jocks don't share your values & attitudes on this subject, too bad, don't make it any less true than it is.
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So everything you're saying is also assumption.

I'd say a locker room is similar to the military prior to Don't Ask, Don't Tell being repealed. If you were gay, chances are people knew. Maybe some people didn't like it, but they'd deal with it. I think a locker room is probably the same way. When you're a team and you're around each other constantly from August to January or February, word will get around and the players will deal with it. Just speculation, but I doubt every gay athlete who's every played a sport has hidden it so no one in the locker room knows.
 
IDEXAN said:
Don't think so, not an openly gay teammate.
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Put your well established record of disliking gays down for a moment and put on your logic cap for a second.

You generalize based on african-american christians dominating the NFL. You leave out typically gregarious rich young men who get together a lot and are recognizable in public. Being as such they draw willing chicks constantly. After a while of going out with a single guy and seeing him get hit on by chicks and he never hooks up or talks about being out on a date eventually you are going to conclude he's gay and just not saying anything. So yes I am sure there have been plenty of guys who have believed they have gay teammates without having to be told.

IDEXAN said:
That's too difficult to try and even hypothesize because we know enough about AJ to know that he's got illegits out, who knows maybe gobs of them scattered about ? Give me another name ? Antonio, Kareem, anybody ?
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Absurd objection to a hypothetical but OK - JJ Watt.
 
yawner topic for me. Most people (in the locker room) won't care. Some guys will be uncomfortable. Some guys will say something stupid. Some guys will be openly supportive. There will be no mass-mind reaction. It's like having a guy with an imaginary girlfriend in the locker room. He'll get some attention and there will be overreaction to everything anyone says. This topic is more for the 'Entertainment Tonight' crowd if you ask me.
 
Vinny said:
yawner topic for me. Most people (in the locker room) won't care. Some guys will be uncomfortable. Some guys will say something stupid. Some guys will be openly supportive. There will be no mass-mind reaction. It's like having a guy with an imaginary girlfriend in the locker room. He'll get some attention and there will be overreaction to everything anyone says. This topic is more for the 'Entertainment Tonight' crowd if you ask me.
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Co-signed. I work at an all-sports network and no one gives a rats ass about gay. From a hockey perspective all they want to know is if you can put the puck in the net, drop the gloves and kick someone's ass or stop the puck. Of course, I'm in Canada so maybe we are a tad more liberal on the subject, but all you have to do is look at Brian Burke's work in "You Can Play" to see the efforts being made to make this a non-topic in hockey rinks/locker rooms.
 
infantrycak said:
Put your well established record of disliking gays down for a moment and put on your logic cap for a second.
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Don't dislike them, actually I rather feel sorry for them because I understand their sexuality is nothing they chose yet because of just that they are now saddled with a decided disadvantage, a profound liability when compared to the norm that they must carry throughout their entire lives.
infantrycak said:
You generalize based on african-american christians dominating the NFL. You leave out typically gregarious rich young men who get together a lot and are recognizable in public. Being as such they draw willing chicks constantly. After a while of going out with a single guy and seeing him get hit on by chicks and he never hooks up or talks about being out on a date eventually you are going to conclude he's gay and just not saying anything. So yes I am sure there have been plenty of guys who have believed they have gay teammates without having to be told.



Absurd objection to a hypothetical but OK - JJ Watt.
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I'm talking about the situation where a guy comes out officially and publically and vocally announces he's gay: he's announcing to the whole world what he is and who he is and I'm simply saying there's not an NFL locker room in the league that's ready for that guy at this time nor will there probably be for sometime to come.
 
IDEXAN said:
I'm talking about the situation where a guy comes out officially and publically and vocally announces he's gay: he's announcing to the whole world what he is and who he is and I'm simply saying there's not an NFL locker room in the league that's ready for that guy at this time nor will there probably be for sometime to come.
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I don't think you understand how fast the demographics on these issues are moving. In just 10 years the polls on gay marriage have gone from 40% to 60% for. Most of that change is in the youngest age brackets, i.e. when people are athletes. My kids go to religious private schools. Even there gay is simply not an issue as in the kids are condemning one another and yes there are openly gay students (and yup they are in the locker rooms).

You still ignored the question on JJ Watt.
 
infantrycak said:
I don't think you understand how fast the demographics on these issues are moving. In just 10 years the polls on gay marriage have gone from 40% to 60% for. Most of that change is in the youngest age brackets, i.e. when people are athletes. My kids go to religious private schools. Even there gay is simply not an issue as in the kids are condemning one another and yes there are openly gay students (and yup they are in the locker rooms).

You still ignored the question on JJ Watt.
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I saw one the other day that was even more dramatic that the one you thru out there - acceptance of gay marriage has gone from 40 to 53 % since May of last year ? SoI don't what to think of those kind of #s, would like to see the exact language of the questions and exactly who was and who wasn't polled ?
Re the hypo about JJ outing himself, of course that would certainly be off of the Richter scale, but even bigger would be such an announcement by an NFL black superstar if you are talking about the impact in the locker room. So OK, I went along with it, but not gonna happen.
 
toronto said:
Co-signed. I work at an all-sports network and no one gives a rats ass about gay. From a hockey perspective all they want to know is if you can put the puck in the net, drop the gloves and kick someone's ass or stop the puck. Of course, I'm in Canada so maybe we are a tad more liberal on the subject, but all you have to do is look at Brian Burke's work in "You Can Play" to see the efforts being made to make this a non-topic in hockey rinks/locker rooms.
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yep, well said. Like Tiger's new ad says:

tiger-woods-winning-victory-nike.jpg


Excel at your craft and win and most folks will care less about sexuality.
 
Vinny said:
yawner topic for me. Most people (in the locker room) won't care. Some guys will be uncomfortable. Some guys will say something stupid. Some guys will be openly supportive. There will be no mass-mind reaction. It's like having a guy with an imaginary girlfriend in the locker room. He'll get some attention and there will be overreaction to everything anyone says. This topic is more for the 'Entertainment Tonight' crowd if you ask me.
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As usual you're scary right Vinny!

Live and let live, I'll support any player that outs himself on grounds of homosexuality, but if he screws up his game (and I'm talking football here) I'll be the first one to pile on his rear.. (football-wise Again).

In other Words, be whatever you want to be, do whatever you want to do. This is freedom, be WHO you are... but get ready to catch hell if you play like rubbish :)
 
Stay in the closet,

My $$$$$ is on Micheal Vick, afterall herpes is running wild in the homosexual community.

Teo Teo daylight come and he want to get boned.
 
I'm reminded of an Eddie Murphy dialogue where he reminds us that gay people can still kick your ass.

Those of us over 40(ish) remember that... "Raw" maybe?
 
This quote from Frasier Crane sums it up:

Roger, at Cornell University they have an incredible piece of scientific equipment known as the tunneling electron microscope. Now, this microscope is so powerful that by firing electrons you can actually see images of the atom, the infinitesimally minute building blocks of our universe. Roger, if I were using that microscope right now... I still wouldn't be able to locate my interest in your problem. Thank you for your call.
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IDEXAN said:
I'm talking about the situation where a guy comes out officially and publically and vocally announces he's gay: he's announcing to the whole world what he is and who he is and I'm simply saying there's not an NFL locker room in the league that's ready for that guy at this time nor will there probably be for sometime to come.
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Well the president of the players' association disagrees with you:

This week’s story that a gay NFL player is considering coming out was met with an interesting reaction from Domonique Foxworth, the former NFL cornerback who is now president of the NFL Players Association.

Foxworth said that not only does he think it’s inevitable that a gay player will come out, but he believes multiple gay players are going to come out. Foxworth said on WNST in Baltimore that there are already multiple gay players in the NFL, and that when one of them comes out, others will see that they have nothing to fear.

“It doesn’t have to be one player,” Foxworth said. “When one player comes out, multiple players will come out, because they are in our league right now.”
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From PFT.com

Like I said, they are already known in the locker room and nobody is causing a stink. Your argument makes no logical sense. It doesn't matter if they say it publicly wrt whether the team accepts them. They already do. The team isn't going to suddenly become scared of showering with the same guy they have known is gay for four years just because he becomes openly gay.
 
Texan_Bill said:
I'm reminded of an Eddie Murphy dialogue where he reminds us that gay people can still kick your ass.

Those of us over 40(ish) remember that... "Raw" maybe?
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Delirious. The one where he is wearing the orange jumpsuit. Man, I had that whole routine memorized as a kid!
 
infantrycak said:
Well the president of the players' association disagrees with you:



From PFT.com

Like I said, they are already known in the locker room and nobody is causing a stink. Your argument makes no logical sense. It doesn't matter if they say it publicly wrt whether the team accepts them. They already do. The team isn't going to suddenly become scared of showering with the same guy they have known is gay for four years just because he becomes openly gay.
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And you are surprised by this kind of statement coming from the top official representative of the players' association, really ? What would surprise me would be if he said anything to the contrary. This guy has probably been told by Goodell to get in line with the gay-rights thing or their advocates in Congress might come after the league for its anti-trust exemption.
BTW, I don't really care that much if half of the NFL rank-and-file come out of the closet this afternoon and all waltz with each other on Ellen's show, my reservations about gays in any kind of organization is pretty much limited to certain units of the military because of the national security considerations. But I still don't expect to see anybody "come out of the closet" in the public sense of the term in the near term. Eventually at some point in time ? Yea sure, eventually.
 
IDEXAN said:
And you are surprised by this kind of statement coming from the top official representative of the players' association, really ? What would surprise me would be if he said anything to the contrary. This guy has probably been told by Goodell to get in line with the gay-rights thing or their advocates in Congress might come after the league for its anti-trust exemption.
BTW, I don't really care that much if half of the NFL rank-and-file come out of the closet this afternoon and all waltz with each other on Ellen's show, my reservations about gays in any kind of organization is pretty much limited to certain units of the military because of the national security considerations. But I still don't expect to see anybody "come out of the closet" in the public sense of the term in the near term. Eventually at some point in time ? Yea sure, eventually.
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I've kind of stayed away from this topic, but I agree with Cak in this situation. I think initially there would be some awkwardness, but at the end of the day I think a locker room of brothers would find a way to make it work. Yeah, you're going to have a few knuckleheads but you're going to have that anyway. The true leaders of the team would make sure that the other guys are accepting of this situation. This person is going to be the Jackie Robinson of gay athletes so the spotlight is going to be bright on everyone. No one will risk looking like the idiot of the group by doing something stupid.

There's money to be made from whatever player that is gay becoming the first one to come out so I think it'll happen within the next year or 2. While football isn't the most accepting environment, I believe that at the end of the day the common goal amongst peers would prevail in this situation. Just my 2 pennies.
 
Texn4life said:
I've kind of stayed away from this topic, but I agree with Cak in this situation. I think initially there would be some awkwardness, but at the end of the day I think a locker room of brothers would find a way to make it work. Yeah, you're going to have a few knuckleheads but you're going to have that anyway. The true leaders of the team would make sure that the other guys are accepting of this situation. This person is going to be the Jackie Robinson of gay athletes so the spotlight is going to be bright on everyone. No one will risk looking like the idiot of the group by doing something stupid.

There's money to be made from whatever player that is gay becoming the first one to come out so I think it'll happen within the next year or 2. While football isn't the most accepting environment, I believe that at the end of the day the common goal amongst peers would prevail in this situation. Just my 2 pennies.
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I congratulated you on becoming a U.S. citizen, now I'll do the same for landing an employment opportunity with Cameron International. It's tough to go wrong these days and in this economy with an Oil Field Services Company.
OK, don't know your religion affiliation (if any), but you should know that many young men in "that locker room of brothers" you refer to are very likely to be Southern Baptists if they have a religous affiliation, and that denomination of Christianity does not take kindly to homosexuality and the idea of gay marriage. And that's putting it mildly. Furthermore, I suspect that many of those brothers might take exception to the very term "Jackie Robinson of gay athletes".
 
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