Gay former player encourages current gay players to come out

SharonT said

Merged threads and deleted a bunch of replies which crossed the TOS. Bigotry is not allowed.

To the OP(s): Please avoid posting controversial topics without offering some meaningful input, otherwise it looks like just trolling or setting up other members for a smackdown, which creates work for the volunteer staff.

Click to expand...

The fact that this article would be so controversial as to require a bunch of reply-deletions probably says more than I ever could have. That's sad.

If someone comes in here and posts bigotry, they deserve a smackdown, but that wasn't my intent.

Anyone who is a regular poster on the EE will know where I stand on this issue. Honestly, I don't think sanitizing the thread really progresses the discussion, because it's part of the expected response when a player comes out also (unfortunately).

Imagine if Drew Brees or someone like that came out. I wonder if people would still hold tightly to their jacked-up beliefs if it was one of our own "heroes". That's really the point here. The courageous first player to come out while still playing will make a few people second-guess their stances. Even if it is a sorry way of ordering priorities (football vs. civil rights for goodness sake), it'll be a positive if it makes people think a little.

I understand the need to delete those posts, but they'll still be around when the inevitable day comes that a player reveals he is homosexual, and that has to be part of what's keeping some players from doing so right now.