SPORTSCASTER ANGRILY DEFENDS GAY US FOOTBALLER

A TV sportscaster has lashed out at members of America’s National Football League (NFL) who have criticised up-and-coming footballer Michael Sam for coming out as gay.

Sam, a star college player who was expected to be quickly snapped up by a professional NFL team this year, announced that he is gay on Sunday, possibly risking his future career in the macho sports world.

While he received much public support, including from an official NFL statement, eight NFL executives and coaches anonymously told Sports Illustrated that American football was not yet ready for a gay player.

They said that his coming out would negatively affect his chances of being selected by a team and that he would not be accepted in the locker-room.

Dale Hansen, a sports anchor on the WFAA television channel in Dallas, responded pointedly to the comments in the article, highlighting the hypocrisy of NFL teams who have in the past happily selected players with dubious backgrounds – as long as they were not gay.

“You beat a woman and drag her down a flight of stairs, pulling her hair out by the roots? You’re the fourth guy taken in the NFL draft,” said Hansen.

“You kill people while driving drunk? That guy’s welcome. Players caught in hotel rooms with illegal drugs and prostitutes? We know they’re welcome.

“Players accused of rape and pay the woman to go away? You lie to police trying to cover up a murder? We’re comfortable with that.

“You love another man? Well, now you’ve gone too far!” exclaimed Hansen.

“It wasn’t that long ago that we were being told that black players couldn’t pay in our games because it would be uncomfortable,” he added.

Watch Hansen make his powerful point below.