This week’s story that a gay NFL player is considering coming out was met with an interesting reaction from Domonique Foxworth, the former NFL cornerback who is now president of the NFL Players Association.
Foxworth said that not only does he think it’s inevitable that a gay player will come out, but he believes multiple gay players are going to come out. Foxworth said on WNST in Baltimore that there are already multiple gay players in the NFL, and that when one of them comes out, others will see that they have nothing to fear.
“It doesn’t have to be one player,” Foxworth said. “When one player comes out, multiple players will come out, because they are in our league right now.”
Foxworth said an openly gay NFL player would be a much bigger deal in the media than it would be to other players.
“When the public finds out about it, it’s going to be a media storm and it’s going to be a lot of press and a lot of attention, and probably not all of it’s gonna be positive,” Foxworth said. “But the NFLPA, as long as I’m president of it, is going to be behind that player and providing support.”
The first gay player to come out will be making a difficult, courageous decision. But if Foxworth is right, the second gay player to come out will already know he’ll be supported within the fraternity of NFL players.