We’re still waiting with bated breath for the first NFL player to come sprinting out of the closet, but an interview in this week’s Houston Chronicle suggests openly gay footballers have been on the field for as long as two decades. Openly gay, at least, to their fellow teammates.
Inspired by Jason Collins‘ announcement that made him the first openly gay NBA star and several other recently-out athletes like Tom Daley and Brian Boitano, former members of the 1993 Houston Oilers lineup admit they knew that two of their teammates were gay, and more importantly, it was “no big deal” both on the field and in the locker room.
“Everybody knew certain guys [were gay],” said cornerback Cris Dishman. “Everybody speculated and people used to see these two guys come in by themselves. They’d leave at lunchtime and then come back.” Hmm, a secret couple?
The ’93 Houston Oilers lineup has been considered “the most dysfunctional pro football team ever to take the field,” but linebacker Lamar Lathon insists the group was more of an inclusive family than a football team. He added that he’s “never seen tougher guys than those [gay] guys.”
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He continued:
Listen, those guys that we’re talking about were unbelievable teammates. And if you wanted to go to war with someone, you would get those guys first. And everybody in the locker room, the consensus knew or had an idea that things were not exactly right. But guess what? When they strapped the pads on and got on the field, man, we were going to war with these guys because they were unbelievable.
So, who were they?
[Photo: Houston Chronicle]
Jeepo1
is queerty under some contractural obligation to include a Tom Daley reference in every single article? enough already!
dunce1
Since when is 20+ years “open for the last decade”?
ncman
Could what is described in the article be considered “openly gay” by anyone other than a headline writer for Queerty?
jimbryant
Most NFL players have a flexible sexuality. They just need the right man to bring it out of them.
AuntieChrist
@jimbryant: Would never be you,effing skank..! on a happy note, I am oiled up for the Oilers.
jonathanc621
One of them could have been Warren Moon, their QB at the time.
http://www.outsports.com/2011/5/31/4051358/hall-of-fame-quarterback-warren-moon-says-he-played-with-gay-teammates
jimbryant
Men have very powerful and constant sex drives. This lends itself to a pervasive sense of needing to have an orgasm. The only thing that stops men from having constant orgasms with other men is shame.
Shame is imposed on men by women as well as by other men who view the sexual rejection of women as an insult to her honor.
Kevin B
@jimbryant: This is interesting information. On an unrelated note, when did community colleges start offering Queer Studies courses?
MikeE
@Kevin B: They don’t. His degree is from a cereal box.
jimbryant
Kevin B and MikeE,
There are powerful reasons for opposing male homosexuality. They are ingrained in our social system. They are ingrained in the power balance between men and women. We must not ignore the role of women in this.
I’m not saying we should be hostile to women but we do need to recognize their important role in promoting male-specific homophobia.
jmi2
“…the consensus knew or had an idea that things were not exactly right.” that’s a terrible thing to say. after being somewhat supportive to use ” not exactly right” is a couched slur. oh, well. i suppose it’s a start after decades of abuse…
Kieran
If it really were “no big deal” those closeted NFL players would come out. The fact that they choose to stay closeted has a lot to do with the pervasive shame-based negative stereotypes our culture actively promotes about being gay.
Deepdow
@jimbryant:
Everything about your statement is the reason why I bemoan the past and look forward to the right and proper future where there are no ingrained power balances between the sexes and there are no more self-hating gay men (you?) and their allies (the religious extremists) who go out of their way to oppose male homosexuality. I bet you’re a boomer.
LadyL
Typical. These players were apparently prepared to be supportive only if the men in question kept their mouths shut, even to them.
This is the kind of crap straight guys say when they don’t really want to know but don’t want to be thought bigoted. It’s “no big deal” so long as no one ever actually comes out.
Kevin B
@MikeE: Oh God I never meant to imply that he had actually GRADUATED. I’m so sorry.
@jimbryant: Regardless of what role individual women may or may not have had in creating promoting homophobia, your whole “us vs. them” construction is tiring and useless. Maligning out-groups is so 20th century.
D9W
Players? Try one of the owners >.< .
AuntieChrist
@jimbryant: You’re just angry and frustrated cause you ain’t got no vagina…You become what you hate.
animatedgifman
@jimbryant:
I agree with you, Jim …
Pro football has to be the ‘gayest’ sport in the world. In what other venue do you find crowds approaching 100,000 in larger stadiums and 10s of millions of TV viewers wildly cheering on 22 men in spandex bouncing each others bones in an orgiastic heap to the cheers and roaring approval of all? In what other sport do they have positions called a ‘tight end’ or a ‘wide receiver’? LOL
Tyler100
@AuntieChrist:
You’re implying there’s something bad about vaginas. JimBryant is more of an STD (which is ironic because he certainly isn’t getting laid): he’s difficult to get rid of and irritating.
Teleny
@LadyL: in football I think there’s a heightened risk of a cheap shot. It may have been in everyone’s best interests to not come out/particularly since this was years ago.
alanj
@AuntieChrist: why won’t queerty do anything about this troll Jimbryant, he hijacks comment forums which then end up being all about him rather than the original article.
AuntieChrist
@Tyler100: I have nothing against vaginas after all we would not be here without them…It’s just that Ms.Bryants misogynistic attitude strikes me as the polar opposite of penis envy…@alanj: If he she or it is flagged enough times he she or it will be removed.
jimbryant
I don’t resile one iota from what I’ve said…not one iota. Maybe you’re just jealous of my intellectual clout.
alanj
@AuntieChrist: tried doing that – nothing happens. I guess Queerty just like watching the numbers add up. He has a strange idea about what’s ‘intelctual’
cmhbuck
@jimbryant: I don’t think ‘clout’ means what you think it means.
AuntieChrist
@alanj: It takes time sweetie…The only way to get rid of someone like that is to totally ignore them, but no one ever does, the entire point of their online existence is attention, poz or neg they don’t care…I’m pretty new to the game here but I surmise it is a form of pathos…There is really nothing one can do about it…Even if he she or it is removed they will simply come up with a new online persona and continue…It’s nice that you care though, shows that your human with a heart. No the ONLY way to get rid of it is to completely ignore it and no one ever will. 🙂
AuntieChrist
@alanj: One more thing sweet pea…People like the cray cray D-Bags irregardless of their posts…I for one would be content without the pollution.
the other Greg
@LadyL: “It’s “no big deal” so long as no one ever actually comes out.”
Yes, and they are “openly gay” as long as they stay in the closet!
But this reasoning is not limited to straight guys, since even Queerty understands this.
krystalkleer
lemme guess…they were liked play’n the PACKERS (insert obvious joke here) http://www.getoffmydress.blogspot.com
Spike
@Jeepo1: Are you just now noticing?!!?
Spike
@Kevin B: Antioch University design your own Degree and course study program. Clearly he majored in Queer Studies and minored in Women Hating.
jimbryant
Women cause a lot of homophobia in society, particularly towards men. They see male homosexuality as being a sign of superiority, and thus fear it.
manonyme
@jmi2: yes, you’re right it wasn’t a favorable statement. first, i would in no way want to excuse a bully’s bad behavior, but that could’ve been just the idea of you all being buddies at one point; then you find out tom and dick were bringing harry back to their jacuzzi…so ‘something wasn’t right’ could also just imply they perceived more going on btn tom and dick.
i actually think when he says every body suspected,that’s prolly the same process of discovery gays would make about one another. just basic detective work. because to immediately be so emphatic that THEY were the the toughest guys is an incredible thing to say. he equated some gay men with america’s most grueling (and dangerous) sport. thereby creating a spectrum of we ‘funboys’, and not some stupid caricature.
so even if there was malevolence in his former statement, this would more than make up for it. to not stereotype them or instantly throw in the obligatory,”as long as they didn’t try anything w/me” was most refreshing (bc, since we like men, that means we like ALL men, righ?)
so those weren’t baby steps, but rather leaps and bounds with regard to how we’re referred to; perceived and then hopefully treated.
but that’s one of those statements we would need to hear the tone and inflection of in order to determine the context. (was he rude or inquisitive)
alanj
@AuntieChrist: Cheers, I just don’t think there is any place for hate speech, homophobia, misogyny, ethnic stereotyping and bald face lying in any form of communication. Anyway I like your spin on this weird world, keep ’em coming.
Tyler100
@jimbryant:
Based, of course, on nothing. No facts or figures to back up this claim. Just pure, unadulterated hatred for women. I guess ol’ Jimmy didn’t get enough hugs when he was a kid, or something. Jim, you’re seriously whacked in the head.
the other Greg
@Tyler100: Jimmy never recovered from a childhood attack of COOTIES.
jimbryant
Don’t underestimate the role of women in homophobia. Day after day, we see stories of homophobia caused by women. The Russian anti-gay laws were written by a woman. The United States has tons of homophobic women.