In a recent ESPN radio show, Nick Kasa, a tight end with the University of Colorado, was asked about his sexual orientation by scouts at the NFL Combine. Although it is illegal to ask an athlete if they are gay, the NFL scouts did make their intentions clear by asking indirect questions regarding Kasa’s sexuality such as “Do you have a girlfriend?”, “Are you married?”, and “Do you like girls?”.
The issue of an openly gay player in pro sports has been a media hot topic since San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver made anti-gay remarks before Super Bowl XLVII. Katie Couric also delved into the topic of sexual preference during an interview about the Manti Te’o “catfish” scandal. Couric point blank asked Manti Te’o if he was gay. The curiosity surrounding Te’o continued to dog the Heisman finalist as Mike Florio, NBC Sports and ProFootballTalk, explained to radio host Dan Patrick that NFL teams were extremely inquisitive about the sexual orientation of Te'o. "Here's the elephant in the room for the teams and it shouldn't matter, but we have to step aside from the rest of reality and walk into the unique industry that is the NFL." Florio said to Patrick. "Teams want to know whether Manti Te'o is gay. They just want to know. They want to know because in an NFL locker room, it's a different world. It shouldn't be that way."
It would be naïve to think that there are no gay players currently in pro sports. The question is ‘How long it will be before the culture in pro sports changes to allow the players to be open about their sexual orientation?’.
In a recent ESPN radio show, Nick Kasa, a tight end with the University of Colorado, was asked about his sexual orientation by scouts at the NFL Combine. Although it is illegal to ask an athlete if they are gay, the NFL scouts did make their intentions clear by asking indirect questions regarding Kasa’s sexuality such as “Do you have a girlfriend?”, “Are you married?”, and “Do you like girls?”.
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