Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe
says he's happy to be named an honorary gay.
In an appearance on the Ellen
DeGeneres Show, Kluwe, 31, said he believes his activism is
helping to create an environment in the NFL where someday a gay
player will feel comfortable enough to come out.
“I think it's more a distraction
issue,” Kluwe answered on why there were no out NFL players. “In
that it's so hard to make it to the NFL – it's maybe one percent of
one percent of everyone who plays high school football will even have
a chance in the NFL. So, it's one of those things where you look at
it and, 'You know maybe I can put up with this for four years, five
years, make my money and then once I'm done, you know, then I can be
who I really am.'”
“Hopefully, the stuff that Brendan's
[Ayanbadejo] doing, that guys like Scott Fujita and Connor Barwin of
the Texans and, you know, that I'm helping out is to create an
environment where one day a player will feel, 'I can be who I am. I
don't have to hide who I am. And it won't affect my football
playing, because I'm here to play football.'”
Kluwe added he felt good about being
named an honorary gay for his advocacy by Out magazine. (The
video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)