Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott
Fujita believes an openly gay player would be welcome in the National
Football League (NFL).
In 2011, Fujita became the second
professional athlete behind Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon
Ayanbedejo to record an ad for the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC)
Americans for Marriage Equality campaign.
In the 30-second ad, Fujita says it's
“unfair to keep other loving and committed couples from getting
married and protecting their families.”
During a radio interview on Cleveland's
WKRK-FM – 92.3, Fujita said an openly gay teammate would be just
another player.
When asked, “Do you think a gay
player in the Browns locker room would be an issue?” Fujita
answered: “It would not be an issue at all.”
He went on to state that the novelty
would wear off soon after the first player came out.
“Once a guy comes out, yeah, it'll be
very newsworthy,” he said. “It'll be a huge, huge breakthrough
and then it'll be another one and another one and another one. Then
it'll be just another guy in the locker room. So the sooner we get
to that point, we can get past all the difficult things the PR staffs
feel they might have and should be ashamed they even feel that way,
but once we get over that first hurdle then everything should be just
fine.”
(Related: Mark
Knudson: Gay athletes should remain closeted.)