Has the National Football League finally reached its tipping point in accepting homosexual athletes in and out of the locker room? If a former Baltimore Ravens linebacker is to be believed, we may soon find out, with four current NFL players possibly coming out in the near future.
In a league culture sometimes unfairly branded as utterly homophobic, linebacker and special teams player Brendon Ayanbadejo has been a welcomed voice of reason, supporting marriage equality and gay rights. After he was released from the Super Bowl champion Ravens, the ex-pro talked to The Baltimore Sun about ending his career in Charm City, as well as when he believes the NFL's first openly gay player will come out publicly.
"I think it will happen sooner than you think," Ayanbadejo told The Baltimore Sun. "We're in talks with a handful of players who are considering it. There are up to four players being talked to right now and they're trying to be organized so they can come out on the same day together. It would make a major splash and take the pressure off one guy. It would be a monumental day if a handful or a few guys come out."
Ayanbadejo's news arrives within days of a report from CBS Sports' Mike Freeman suggesting that "a current gay NFL player is strongly considering coming out publicly within the next few months."
In the same interview with The Sun, Ayanbadejo claimed that NFL organizations and the league in general are "already being proactive" preparing for a current player to publicly come out. Of course, we don't have to tell you that statement runs counter to the pervasive image of the league's culture.
The NFL isn't exactly known for its progressive acceptance of homosexuality; in the league's long history there has never been an openly gay player, and strikingly few former players have come out after retiring. Recently, though, sexual orientation and its relationship to football have increasingly been in the spotlight. Many believed the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax to be a ruse designed to hide his homosexuality, a claim that the former Notre Dame star fiercely denied.
A report spread in February that "at least one team scouting the [NFL] combine" was asking prospective football players about their sexuality, the league announced, according to ESPN. Senior at the University of Colorado, tight end Nick Kasa, revealed during a radio interview that a team scouting the combine had asked him numerous questions about his sexual orientation.
Earlier in the year, San Francisco cornerback Chris Culliver similarly rankled many across the country when he made homophobic comments in a radio interview, saying he wouldn't welcome a gay player into the locker room.
Speaking with "shock jock" Artie Lange, Culliver insisted gay players wouldn't be welcome on the team. "I don't do the gay guys man," said Culliver, absolutely not trying to over compensate for something. "I don't do that. No, we don't got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do."
"Can't be with that sweet stuff. Nah...can't be...in the locker room man. Nah," he said.
When Lange asked Culliver whether homosexual athletes would need to keep their sexuality a secret in football, he responded: "Yeah, come out 10 years later after that."
Culliver - or more likely his publicist and/or lawyer - eventually backtracked and issued an apology.
Following CBS' report that a current player was seriously considering coming out, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Chris Clemons tweeted that coming out was "a selfish act."
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