New England Patriots tight end Rob
Gronkowski has said he would respect an openly gay teammate.
In an interview Wednesday with Stephen
A Smith and Ryan Ruocco on ESPN Radio New York, Gronkowski was asked
whether an openly gay player would be accepted in the Patriots'
locker room.
“I got this question before, about a
year ago, and I basically will say the same answer that I did a year
ago,” Gronkowski
answered. “You've got to accept the player. Everyone has
their own ways to live their life and as long as he's respecting me,
keeping distance, respecting myself, I'll respect him back.”
“If he's being a great teammate and
he's a guy on the field doing a great job, well you've got nothing to
complain about. He's another teammate and another friend.”
On how other NFL players would react,
Gronkowski was less certain.
“I'm not really sure,” he said. “I
never went around asking players on my team or in the NFL, 'Hey, what
would you think if someone on our team is gay? How would you take
it?' I never thought of that, and never asked anyone that and never
tried to find out if there is [a gay player] on the team.”
“If someone is on my team and they
are a great teammate and a great player on the field, helping the
team win – that's all you've got to ask for.”
(Related: Chris
Kluwe advises NFL player on coming out gay.)