Editor's note: "Tim" is the pseudonym for a gay Division I college football kicker. Outsports has verified his identity and we have allowed his story to be told anonymously because we feel it is an important one to tell.
By Eric Anderson
Outsports.com
As one of the team's placekickers, Tim doesn't get much playing time: There is a fraction of a second between when the ball is snapped and the opposing team's defense rushes forward; and just another fraction before his foot connects with the ball. For him, the pressure to perform comes in microbursts, and his performance can either make him a hero or leave his team brooding in defeat.
*snip*
Although Tim does not introduce him to his teammates as his boyfriend, "people know," Tim says. One of the team's seniors said to him this past season: "I know about you, and if anyone ever messes with you, you just tell me who they are and I'll beat the crap out of whoever it is."
Supportive teammates
This modicum of protection isn't just because Tim is good at his sport, it also comes from genuine gay-positive sentiment. "My uncle is gay," Tim recalls one of his teammates telling him. "I've got no problems with it." Apparently, nobody else on the team does either. Tim has received no homophobic harassment and says he has never been harassed by anyone for being gay.
READ MORE:
http://www.outsports.com/os/index.php/component/content/article/24-people/216-gay-college-football-player-fits-in-well-on-his-team-------
Interesting and encouraging....seeing as sports, particularly football are particularly hostile to the thought of LGBT players and homosexuality in general.
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