The NFL has been highly criticized, and many have vowed to boycott the NFL over the league’s willingness to stand up for issues of equality. Yesterday, the NFL took another step in their crusade for equality by celebrating National Coming Out Day with a video featuring openly gay and bisexual players with the message of urging all gay players to come out and play as openly gay players in the NFL.
Current NFL stars, Rob Gronkowski and DeAndre Hopkins, participated in the video saying, “It takes all of us, and you deserve to be all you.”
Traditionally, a sport like professional football has been defined by a machismo mentality, which is the opposite of the longstanding stereotype that gay people are effeminate. That traditional view of gay males has evolved into the reality that gay people can be as “manly” as any straight male, but that has not erased the stereotype.
It should come as no surprise that as the NFL is on a crusade to promote racial equality, that equality toward the LGBTQ community is part of a bigger battle in America.
The NFL’s PSA coincided with National Coming Out Day - an annual day to encourage gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender peopke to “come out of the closet” and live their lives as openly gay individuals. National Coming Out Day was first celebrated in the United States in 1988.
Last week, former Tampa Bay Bucs and Dallas Cowboys defensive linemen Ryan Russell came out as bisexual. In 2019, former Cowboys linebacker Jeff Rohrer came out as gay.
Through the 100-year history of the NFL, only 14 players have come out as gay or bisexual. Running back Dave Kopay was the first NFL player to openly admit he was gay in 1975, Kopay played in the NFL from 1964-1972 and in 1971 was a running back for the New Orleans Saints.
Much of the opposition seems to come from people who say they are concerned by gay players showering with, traveling with and getting dressed next to straight players. I have never heard of any incident stemming from an irrational fear shared by so many fans who are not in those situations. And of the few players that were openly gay - how many more players were gay with teammates who knew they were gay?
It’s 2020, and the myopic notion that gay people can’t be in the NFL should be obsolete - but it remains alive and well and continues to contribute to an overly judgmental America.
It is obvious that NFL players do not have a problem playing with gay players on their teams - why, then, should you care?
As a heterosexual male, I cannot speak for the midset of anyone in the LGBTQ community; but I know that we all when to school with people we thought were gay. We have all been in countless situations at gyms and health clubs where we had no idea of the orientation of the person at the locker next to us. Chances are we have all been in locker room situations with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Did anything bad happen?
The objection to gay people playing in the NFL is part of a bigger problem in America. It seems as if we - as a nation - are looking for ways to be divided rather than encouraging the unity that makes us worthy of saying we live in the United States of America.
