It’s Time for the N.F.L. to Welcome a Gay Player; New York Times, 2/9/14

Juliet Macur, New York Times; It’s Time for the N.F.L. to Welcome a Gay Player:

"It’s time.

Enough of the slow-moving, inch-by-inch steps toward making gay athletes a public part of the fabric of professional sports, as they should be. No more stone-by-stone dismantling of a wall of discrimination by players who announce they are gay only after they have retired from competing in the big leagues.

There is no better moment than now to plow ahead and topple that wall with a bulldozer, and what a relief that Michael Sam, an all-American defensive end from Missouri, is in the driver’s seat, bravely heading full speed ahead...

If Sam had played for Lombardi, he would probably have had a clear, safe chance to shine. Lombardi had a gay brother and preached equal treatment of his players in his locker rooms. He made the rules and punished the dissenters — and that was all his teams needed to fall into line. He showed what could be done to affect locker room culture if coaches just took the lead."