Are there gays in the nfl

And while someone coming out in might not feel like a big deal, with that simple statement, Nassib became the first openly gay active player in NFL history. With that simple statement, Nassib became the first openly gay active player in NFL history.

Though there are many openly queer women in professional sports, the same cannot be said for men. The NFL has existed for years, and in that time, there has never been a player on an active NFL roster who has publicly acknowledged his gayness.

Louis Rams took him in the seventh round, but he never played in a game. Jerry Smith : Tight end with the Redskins. Ray McDonald : Running back. Roy Simmons : Offensive lineman with the Giants and Redskins. Jeff Rohrer : Linebacker with the Dallas Cowboys. Kwame Harris : Offensive lineman with the 49ers and Raiders. Identifies as bisexual. Dorien Bryant : Wide receiver with the Steelers. Times Today. Editorial: Recall a city councilman one month and put him back in office the next?

Column: Yes, Democrats have a messaging problem. The bigger problem is who has the megaphone. Op-Ed: Abortion restrictions widely punish military women. All Sections. About Us. B2B Publishing. Business Visionaries. Hot Property. It includes documents relating to sexual harassment and sexual orientation. Fourth: Some individual franchises, however, are not as enthusiastic about the prospect as the league office seems to be.

Several team officials say the largest obstacle to an openly gay player is the resistance of a significant number of NFL owners and a smaller number of general managers and coaches. Fifth: Many in the league are fearful of acting or even speaking on this subject. Quite simply, teams remain terrified of signing an openly gay player.

One team official gave an example of why there is such fear. He posed a question: What if a gay player came out in a place like the Dolphins locker room, where there was allegedly severe hazing? Some stories out of the last NFL combine indicated teams are worried. Nick Kasa, a prospective pro out of the University of Colorado, told ESPN Radio in Denver earlier this year that during interviews with team officials at the combine in Indianapolis: " Teams ask you, like, 'Do you have a girlfriend?

The assumption was that the questions were some form of standard operating procedure not tied to the particular interviewees. Got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. It's this fear of gays that helps explain why many in the NFL are nervous about addressing the issue on the record. Some sources feel that talking openly about gay issues will label them as being part of the gay-player discussion and harm them in their current positions across the sport.

Still, some players strongly believe an openly gay player would be welcome in an NFL locker room. No one cares. The only thing they care about is winning games and getting paid. That's the honest truth. To others, both in football and out of it, an openly gay NFL player would be a monumental moment, signaling that yet another barrier has fallen not just in sports, but all of society.

This past spring, it seemed imminent that barrier was going to collapse with not one, but two players having found teams that would sign them knowing they would come out. Along with the initial player discussed in this article, there was a fairly well-known defensive back. He drew interest from at least one AFC team that knew he was gay. Coaches on the team were asked if they were OK with a gay player. They were.

Some defensive players were casually queried, according to an official on the team. All of the players asked said it wouldn't be an issue. They were not told the name of the player.