by shafnutz05 on Tue Feb 26, 2013 10:26 pm
I was listening to Mike Missanelli in Philly about this very issue today. Specifically, about whether or not Te'o is gay (note: I don't like Te'o, but his sexual orientation is a non-factor in terms of his on-field ability).
There is a major, MAJOR homophobia that exists among black athletes. That's not to say that all homophobic athletes are black, but there is a definite machismo factor that exists among this group. Examples exist across multiple sports, most notably basketball and football. I don't think it's a coincidence that the first major gay initiative came in ice hockey, which is probably more tolerant (totally relative term, mind you) of alternative lifestyles than other sports.