When will the first gay active pro athlete come out?

See also LPGA.

 

I'm surprised no men's team player has been outed yet. Lord knows there have been enough cases where everybody knows, but nobody writes it.

 

and WTA....

 

Would you want to be known as the writer or athlete who outs a gay person? Villain is a hard bell to unring.

 

I agree completely. But I'm surprised the NY Post or one of the tabloid papers hasn't done it yet. Don't get me wrong, I'm surprised in a good way. I sure as hell never would have written that story.

 

Yeah, I see what you're saying. I guess I'm surprised, too.

 

It would more likely be a TMZ type outlet that doesn't cover sports on a daily basis, but TMZ and other gossip/tabloid outlets would be demonized in Hollywood if they did it.

Now worth it.

Potentially a gay media outlet outs someone, but they'd likely only do it if they saw someone as a hypocrite. For instance if an athlete known to be gay campaigned against gay marriage, or something like that. (Which I don't see happening.)

 

Dave, I'm not a sociologist. If you want to get to the bottom of why Swoopes didn't resonate, perhaps find one.

 

I'm just disagreeing with your premise, Dick. Whatever your bias against the WNBA, you can't just say, "The WNBA doesn't count" and have a thoughtful argument about gays in sports.

 

Because someone already did come out in that league. By excluding the WNBA, I was limiting the discussion to men's professional leagues.

 

A former NFL head coach (who was drunk at the time) told me and a table full of beat writers at the combine several years ago that a player, who is now one of the top 10 stars in the league, is gay/bi. If that is true, and I would no clue if it is or isn't, it would be interesting to see if this guy ever comes out since he could easily be in the NFL for another 10 years.

When I covered baseball I heard stories about several prominent stars, a couple of whom are in Cooperstown. I have no idea if any of them are true, but some of the rumors you hear enough times from p[eople who covered those guys that you begin to believe them. I think if any of those guys came out (if it is actually true) then it might make it easier on others.

I think at some point a major athlete in the NBA, MLB or NFL will be outed by either a tabloid or a website. I would think Daulerio would be the most likely person to out an athlete, but I'm guessing it would have to be a huge name and they would have to basically have proof (whatever that would be) for him to go public.