Quote Originally Posted by Patler View Post
Well sure they can convince themselves of it, just like they convince themselves of reasons to not have players who are overly vocal about politics or many other things. They have 60+ players to bring into harmony under difficult, pressure filled conditions, within relatively confined areas. Unless a player is uniquely talented, why take the player with a lot of extra baggage?

They need a player who is a solid player and says; "By the way, I'm gay." and then goes about his business as a football player. It will be next to impossible to break the ice with a guy who says, "I'M GAY!! and , oh, by the way, I play football."
Well, this is almost a self enclosed lockout. The best players, the ones the teams would HAVE to accept or would be crazy to not sign as FA, have too much outside income to risk coming out first. You could never say it won't happen, but I think the incentives are strong to stay hidden.

So almost inevitably, the first out player will be more pedestrian, like Jason Collins was in basketball. Veterans with less to risk but very willing to continue their careers if possible. That player, by definition, is fungible. And can be replaced by a number of non-out or straight alternatives every year. A team has to want to do this because unlike the color barrier, there is no long term advantage accrued for going first.

Given the strong current (and successful) incentive to stay closeted, I am not sure how a team can judge accurately how the player might react to the inevitable publicity. A player choosing to do this is obviously thinking about more than football. But that is true of any barrier that is broken. Its also true of every player in the League who worries about their next contract. Teams do relinquish rights to these players to avoid distractions, but they also take the risk to sign them.

Employing closeted homosexual players and avoiding open ones is just dishonest and cowardly.