Gays in Sports (and the Chris Culliver Comments)

Ignorant Comments

In light of the recent comments made by San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver regarding gays in the NFL, I felt compelled to write this post. In case you missed it, during Super Bowl Media Day, Culliver was being interviewed by comedian Artie Lang. The topic came to the possibility of a gay teammate being on the 49ers and Culliver responded “I don’t do the gay guys man, I don’t do that. Nah, we ain’t got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff. Nah, can’t be in the locker room.” Culliver later gave an apology that could not have sounded any more feigned and scripted.

Culliver obviously is not the first athlete to speak out against gays, see Tim Hardaway: “I hate gay people.” But since Culliver and the Niners are about to play on the biggest stage in American sports, his comments are magnified.

I can open up a whole new can of worms and talk about the issue of marriage equality, but this being a sports blog I want to try and keep the conversation closer to homosexuals in sports.