Homosexuality in American football
[7][8] However, on August 30, St. Louis released Sam as part of a final round of cuts to reduce their roster to the league-mandated 53 players before the start of the regular season.
[16] Also in 2018, Division II Wyatt Pertuset of Capital University became the first openly gay college player to score a touchdown.
[21] The generally masculine environment that exists in football, along with the hypermasculinity promoted by sportscasters, make it difficult for a player to come out.
[22][23] Heterosexuality is flaunted in NFL locker rooms with the passing of pornographic magazines and videos, and visits to strip clubs.
"[30] According to son Vince Lombardi Jr., "He saw everyone as equals, and I think having a gay brother (Hal) was a big factor in his approach...I think my father would've felt, 'I hope I've created an atmosphere in the locker room where this would not be an issue at all.
Upon his arrival in Washington, Lombardi was aware of tight end Jerry Smith's gay sexual orientation.
[34] Lombardi invited other gay players to training camp, and would privately hope they would prove they could earn a spot on the team.
"[39] Before Super Bowl XLVII in 2013, San Francisco 49ers player Chris Culliver on media day during an interview with The Artie Lange Show, was asked if he thought any gay players were on his team which he replied "No, we don't got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do...Can't be with that sweet stuff."
[43][44][45] The NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2011 contained added protections banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
[47] The same year, NFL player Chris Kluwe was released by the Minnesota Vikings, which he believed was due to his being outspoken in support of same-sex marriage.
“I hope young LGBTQ athletes see posts from tonight and know that they have a rightful place to be out in the NFL, in football, in sports, and at any cultural milestone they aim for.”[56] After NWFA player Alissa Wykes came out as lesbian in the December/January 2002 edition of Sports Illustrated for Women,[21] the league's owner Catherine Masters condemned her for pursuing her own "personal agenda", stating that the league had received "hundreds of phone calls.
"[57] In 2003, as a panel member at the first National Gay/Lesbian Athletics Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Wykes joked that she felt "great empathy for the women on my team who are straight.
"[58] Division II college football player Brian Sims came out as gay to his team in 2000 while playing for Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania,[59] and publicly told his story in 2009.
[62] Outsports, a website specializing in LGBTQ people in sports, released his story about being a gay football player on April 23, 2013.
[63][64] After he retired, NFL player David Kopay in 1975 was the first major professional team-sport athlete to come out as gay.
[67] That same month, Ayanbadejo said there were up to four NFL players who were considering coming out as gay on the same day with the hope that any backlash would be shared and the pressure on one person reduced.
