Well, I cannot put it any simpler than the headline of his post. With all this talk of NFL organizations possibly questioning player sexual orientation, something has to be said as I for one consider it ludicrous. As far as I am concerned the topic of sexual orientation has absolutely zero value when weighing any body's potential, especially a professional football prospect.
Now, I may not have ever stepped foot on a professional football field but I have been part of a few different locker rooms at the high school and college levels, and never have I personally been concerned with what the guy at the locker next to me was looking at, thinking about, or doing on his own time in terms of sexual desires and activities. From my perspective, I simply was to busy to have the time to care, nor did I really have anything to fear.
I learned at a very young age that everybody is different, whether it's the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, or whether or not they eat meat. None of the things they choose to do in their own time reflects what type of teammate they are going to be. Superficial stereotypes and unwarranted prejudices like that have done nothing but cause ripples in the framework of the team concept and often lead to a breakdown in communication and critical thinking. Overall, this type of ignorance simply impedes the forward progress of a society, nevertheless a football team.
I remember the uproar over the issue of female reporters being allowed in the locker rooms for interviews some 20 years ago. That died down as people got over it very quickly. Now can we get over this? I mean, can we move on from the idea that our personal lives and choices we make as free-thinking, responsible, law-abiding adults has any bearing on whether or not we can score touchdowns or tackler ballcarriers when its game time? The whole idea is neanderthalic and oppressive. It doesn't matter if homosexuality is genetic or a choice either, as American citizens have the freedom to engage in "the pursuit of happiness" as they see fit.
Do NFL teams think gay players would be bad teammates or are these NFL executives "just curious"? I'd hate to think that the former was true, but either way this is just as unprofessional as it gets and is most-likely illegal. To question homosexuality in terms of it being a negative thing is about as low as asking whether or not black people are capable of working alongside white people, or whether or not women can work alongside men. I have been coworkers and friends with a number of individuals that were openly gay and I have, on more than one occasion, been told that I was very attractive by openly gay men. I know this because they told me and I never felt embarrassed, ashamed, or even slightly offended by any of these open display of affections shown to me by a member of the same sex. If anything, I was flattered. Once they realized that I was comfortable with my heterosexuality and was keeping it that way they never pursued it again. It would be no different than if a woman I was not attracted to came on to me. All I had to say was "Sorry, I'm not really interested in pursuing a relationship of any kind outside the extent of our current one". Enough said. End of story. It's not that difficult.
The only rule that NFL teams need to apply here is a "no relationship" clause within the organization to prevent any personal disruptions within the fabric of the franchise. Many companies in other industries apply that concept and seek to keep it professional. This goes for everybody and whether or not you are gay does not matter as in-house sexual relationships would simply be forbidden. Nobody is excluded and the problem is solved. If a person is gay and is comfortable sharing it with the world then good for them. If others want to keep it quiet that is their choice that should be respected as well. How hard is this?
The culture of football drastically needs to change on a number of levels in regards to the ethical treatment of players. Their safety on the field has been recently spotlighted in lieu of scientific data confirming what we already know about head trauma and concussions, and their freedom of choice in their personal lives are seemingly also at stake. Team executives and their elitist community continue to treat their players as nothing more than subordinates with no feelings or needs as people. But these are people. We should not forget that.
As it is the NFL have lost my respect as a brand over the years and they continue to find ways to take the fun out of the game for me. Believe it or not, I am losing interest. For a die-hard fan like myself that is hard to say but it is something that is naturally occurring due the state of the game in relation to where I believe we should be as a society. If the people at the top keep taking things in the direction that they are then I will eventually stop watching altogether. I will not support it.
My wife and I are expecting our first child in a month. I promised her that I would never ridicule our child or "disown" them for who they are or what choices they might make in life as long as they weren't hurting anybody else. I said this with tears in my eyes because I never would want a child of mine to feel that he or she was all alone in a world that looked at them as being unfit to perform professional responsibilities or unable to be a valuable member of society for something they should never, ever be ashamed of. I will always have their back.
Wouldn't it be nice if the NFL treated its talent the same way?
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