I once felt a great deal of animosity towards gay people......when I was a young dumbassed teenager. I don't know why now. Now it just seems stupid and childish. I have a real good friend of mine who called me almost nine years ago to tell me that he was gay. I told him he was full of shit, and I seriously thought he was pulling my chain. Well he wasn't. So, we talked and he said that, because I was his friend, I deserved to know. Well, there was a little uncomfortable silence for a minute as I tried to process the fact that someone I had known for almost 15 years, and assumed was heterosexual, was gay. I think he sensed my distress so he switched gears and we talked about other things. When I got off the phone with him I had to do some serious self analysis. My wife and I talked about it at great length. After processing what he had said, my conversaiton with the wife, and my own musings, I came to the conclusion that he was still the same person that I had always liked and that his sexual orientation was not going to change that. Oh sure, I wondered if he had checked me out, or was attracted to me in that way, but decided that my friend knew me well enough to know that I was not gay. I love the man like a brother and am truly glad that he told me. I think, in some ways, that it has done nothing but strengthen our relationship.
I truly admire Esera Tuaolo for coming out and telling the world that he is gay. I suspect that it is extremely difficult for your everyday person to come out, and excruciatingly difficult for a former professional football player to do so. Like LeRoy Butler says in the article that you are about to read, football is a harsh world. I played the game at the high school level and I know how players can be. They can be incredibly cruel and unfeeling people. It's just part of the game, albeit an unnecessary, shitty part of it.
So, without further ado, Mr. LeRoy Butler: