Former NFL defensive end turned ESPN commentator Marcellus Wiley was asked about an out player in the NFL by the Huffington Post. Wiley said he was Esera Tuaolo’s teammate and that the guys joked with Tuaolo about him being gay (before he came out). And as we hear over and over and over and over and over, Wiley’s fine with it…but he thinks everyone else isn’t.
It would really be tough for a gay guy in the NFL, for the locker room to understand him as a homosexual — I’m not saying it’s impossible to pull off, but I’m saying right now the fear of coming out of the closet and more so coming out in the locker room would really be too tremendous to overcome. It’s unfortunate because it shouldn’t be that way.
I understand that the locker room is pretty intimate. I do understand that there are 53 guys walking around nude at times and I do understand how guys may feel uncomfortable, but I don’t think that it should impair someone’s decision to live their life, have their freedoms and express themselves. I don’t know whether that will be five, ten or twenty years from now but right now the NFL culture has no tolerance toward it.
I am so tired of this answer. First, it’s simply not true. How can he say “the NFL culture has no tolerance toward it” when more than half the players in a recent poll said they would be okay if a teammate is gay? How can he say there is “no tolerance toward it” when there are players like Scott Fujita and Brendan Ayanbadejo who are vocal supporters of gay equality?
Despite his Columbia education, Wiley is just another one of the good ol’ boys who doesn’t want to rock the boat. He’d rather sit in his air conditioned ESPN studio, yuck it up with the other fools on NFL Live, and continue to push this idea that someone cannot come out in the NFL when every shred of evidence points the other direction.
“Oh, you haven’t been in an NFL locker room. You don’t know. Everyone’s afraid of the gay guy in the locker room.”
Bullshit. It’d be an issue for half the team for about two weeks, and then it would be an issue for 10% of the team for the rest of the season. It’d be harder on a team coached by an anti-gay coach like Tony Dungy; It’d be easier on a team like the San Francisco 49ers who have a tradition of gay acceptance. Wiley himself said Esera was teased in a friendly, joking way…then he says it would be some horrible armageddon.
Don’t tell me that a three-time Pro Bowl ANYTHING would have trouble coming out on an NFL team. Don’t tell me that! Because it’s just not true.
Hat tip to Pete at WideRights.
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 1:18 PM
Comparing poll numbers to actually having a gay teammate on the team doesn’t make much sense at all. Sure its PC to vote in a poll that one would have no problem with a gay teammate when you aren’t dealing with it at the time. However, the psychology of the team will change. The homophobes will dominate and even the ones who may be ok with it won’t want to be too close to that gay player because they don’t want whispers to begin from the homophobes who will think guilt by association. While I think there is some tolerance there, I get what Wiley was saying and I don’t think he was far off the mark.
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 1:41 PM
How does MdTerp know that a valued and popular teammate who comes out won’t rally the team and make them an even tighter family/unit who protects each other’s backs even more?
It’s 2010. Time for people to grow up and come out.
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 1:44 PM
how do you figure they were teasing Esperanto in a friendly way? Wiley said they were making fun of him before he was out which probably means he was effeminate to them and they probably were making fun of him in derogatory manner not friendly
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 2:10 PM
Reek, Marcellus said it himself:
“Quiet as it was kept, it was suspected when we were teammates in Buffalo, but never to the point where there was any hatred for him as a person — more a joke, more a comedy that people used to say stuff to him.”
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 2:21 PM
Oh ok
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 3:52 PM
Thanks for passing along the story Cyd. I like your points about how he’s just trying not to rock the boat, like these athletes insist to avoid so much.
A homophobic voice may be louder in many ways, but I think the voice doesn’t represent the true scenario. As I wrote in my piece, Glenn Burke was out to his team in MLB in the late 70s. I’ve heard of other players being out to a few players on their teams.
That is pretty strong evidence that the locker room environment is not what is keeping people in the closet as much as other factors.
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 4:53 PM
Thanks for this, Cyd. And to sportinlife who posted it in the Gareth Thomas thread on the board.
Scott Fujita’s attitudes toward gays would be a productive counter-argument to Wiley’s.
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 5:06 PM
I wish people like Wiley – who claim not be homophobic – would simply say, “if I had a teammate come out to me, I’d support him and do my best to make sure the rest of the team supported him, too.”
Making a statement like that does a tremendous service to gay people. A statement like one he actually made does a service to no one.
No closeted gay person needs to be told how tough it can be to come out. The reason they are still in the closet is because of the fear of the unknown in coming out. Ironically almost every gay guy I’ve ever met found coming out to be less difficult than they imagined. Moreover almost all of them wish they had come out sooner and found their life easier and more fulfilling in the long run living honestly and openly.
But the fear inside while still closeted is very real – whether it’s warranted or not.
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 5:59 PM
At the end of the day he’s just a straight guy giving his honest opinion. It doesnt really help anything but is it really necessary for every straight guy who isnt homophobic to somehow facilitate gay progress. I’m sure if someone close to him was gay he might be actively trying to change it but that is not the case.
Straight people typically care about gay rights when it affects them. As great as Brian Burke is, do you honestly think he would care about gay rights if he didnt have a gay son? of course not. So why are people jumping all over this guy?
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 6:00 PM
This part has me totally confused:
“Wow! I was just pondering this question a couple weeks ago when I was discussing one of my former teammates Esera Tuaolo who came out after retirement and said he was gay. Quiet as it was kept, it was suspected when we were teammates in Buffalo, but never to the point where there was any hatred for him as a person — more a joke, more a comedy that people used to say stuff to him.”
He makes it sound like he an Esera were teammates, no? Yet Esera never played for Buffalo. His career ended in 1999 and Wiley was on the Bills from 1997-2000. I wonder if Wiley has Esera confused with someone else or whether the interview was garbled?
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 6:10 PM
I thought the same thing, Jim. But Esera said he was in Bills training camp one year while Wiley was there. Still, it’s odd that Esera could be there for one training camp and get this type of ribbing.
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 6:41 PM
@timnyc…because its 2010 and we still aren’t allowed to marry. Its nice to have that half glass full mentality but I don’t see it. Furthermore, the whole “time for people to grow up and come out” statement is easier said than done. I don’t criticize anyone for remaining in the closet or waiting years to come out. There is a lot of pressure depending on one’s family, environment, job, race, religion, etc etc. I came out when I was ready. People need to come out when they are mentally ready for it and not when someone else feels they need to because its 2010. Life is a lot more complicated than that simple logic. If it was as easy as “oh its 2010″ then more people would come out don’t ya think?
on Jul 20th, 2010 at 10:44 PM
Here here. I’m so over people deciding and voting and conferring on what level of tolerance they may or may not be able to confer upon us horrible terrifying gays. I’m no longer interested in anyone’s tolerance or acceptance. I’m going to steal a quote from a talking heads panel where Generals implied soldiers might be intimidated or scared of confrontations in lockerroom facilities to which a member replied “really? if a soldier is afraid of running into me in the shower than perhaps HE’s not the right guy to be hunting down terrorist. I’m over it all. Really, I’m over it all.
on Jul 21st, 2010 at 6:08 PM
I don’t think Wiley is deserving of the level of condemnation Cyd has heaped on him. Going by his statement, Wiley seems quite gay-positive. He might’ve overplayed the level of homophobia in the locker room, but do we really believe he isn’t far off?
I must give kudos to Mike’s suggestion. That’s the best thing a straight athlete could say.
on Jul 21st, 2010 at 10:13 PM
It’d be harder on a team coached by an anti-gay coach like Tony Dungy
Ah, Cyd, in mid-season Colts-hating form!
on Jul 26th, 2010 at 7:50 PM
I have to disagree with Cyd Zeigler. If Marcellus says there would be no tolerance for gays, then sadly, id have to beleive him. THE MAN WAS IN THE LOCKER ROOM FOR YEARS! I’m gonna take his word.
As for my 49ers, ex-RB Garrison Hearst once said that fags wouldn’t be welcome in his locker room. So, I dont know how accepting even the San Fran team would be. I hope and pray that someone can and will come out in the NFL and crack the homophobic shield soon. I’m convinced it will have to be a great player, a Pro-Bowl caliber player no less. It will happen one day. It will take some time but we’ll get there.
on Jul 27th, 2010 at 1:55 PM
“I don’t think Wiley is deserving of the level of condemnation Cyd has heaped on him.”
That makes two of us. I read Wiley’s comments in a positive light (for Wiley.)
What does a straight person have to do to avoid condemnation? Wave the Rainbow Flag on Christopher Street?