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.

Sports and Politics

Although I think it is a good idea to keep sports and politics separate, much like church and state, it is clear that the line between the two is becoming much blurrier. We see athletes now openly speaking out about political issues on a regular basis. We already know how Chris Culliver feels about gays. On the other side, Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brandon Ayanbadejo have become strong advocates of gay marriage rights.

But it has not just been sports getting into politics, but politicians getting into sports as well. President Barack Obama recently said, “if I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football.” Not a good vote of confidence for the sport.

I in no way agree with Culliver and think that he should have kept his mouth shut, but if players are going to mix politics and sports, then people have to be prepared to hear both sides of the debate, no matter how hurtful and stupid one side may sound.

Next Generation

With the conversation about gay athletes and gay rights comes a big glare in professional sports: No male athlete in any of the major American sports has ever come out while playing. This has led to the ignorance that Culliver has portrayed in his comments. He does not believe there are any gay athletes in the locker room because nobody has taken the opportunity to prove him wrong. A simple look at statistics would easily prove otherwise. Chances are that there are likely plenty of current gay athletes in major American sports leagues, including the NFL and maybe even the Niners, but statistics can leave a shadow of a doubt. Until those against gay athletes see that they could be personally hurting some of their teammates and friends with their comments, these ignorant comments will not stop. It is obviously asking a lot for a current athlete in one of the major sports leagues to admit that he is gay, it takes another level guts than the ones used to play well on the field, but until that happens players like Culliver will always be in the dark.

The generations since Jackie Robinson wonder how there could have been a time when blacks were so rejected in professional sports. The coming generations will look back and wonder how there could have been a time when gay athletes were so maligned by some of their comrades that they feared playing under the ‘gay’ label. 

When the day does come though, when an athlete on a major sports team admits to being homosexual, it will be a big step for both gays and sports. It probably will not happen today or tomorrow or the next day, but it will come. And I think it will come soon. The next generation of people is going to look back on days like today and of years past and will be dumbfounded as to how gays could be treated so poorly in a country that preaches equality among its citizens. Isn’t that how we think of the black player now and how he was treated in the past?