The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has called Chris Broussard courageous for speaking out against Jason Collins.

After Collins, an NBA free agent, came out gay on Monday, Broussard, a sports analyst who mainly covers the NBA for ESPN, said Collins was living in “unrepentant sin.”

“Personally, I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly, like premarital sex between heterosexuals,” Broussard said on ESPN's Outside the Lines. “If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, then the Bible says you know them by their fruits. It says that, you know, that’s a sin. If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, whatever it may be, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. So I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the Bible would characterize them as a Christian.”

During an interview with Lutheran Public Radio's Issues, Etc., Jennifer Morse, founder and president of the Ruth Institute, a project of NOM, claimed Broussard as a spokesperson.

“I think he required more courage than the basketball player did,” Morse said. “I mean, it requires no courage at all today to say 'I'm gay.' It's my understanding [Collins] got a phone call from the president congratulating him on his courage. Well how much courage can it take if the president's going to pick up the phone and give you a personal phone call, you know? But in the meantime, this fellow who says, you know, 'I'm a Christian, and I believe that sex belongs in marriage and it belongs in man-woman marriage,' to say that, now that will bring the whole wrath of society down upon your head. So that's the guy that really required the courage and I give him a lot of credit for it.”

“I was actually quite touched by his comments because – hate to say this because the gay lobby will certainly pick up on this – but I want you to know I did not coach this man at all whatsoever, but he sounds like a spokesman for the Ruth Institute because he's there saying all of these sins are sexual sins,” she added.

(Related: Pat Robertson defends Chris Broussard; Says nothing “bigoted” about attack on Jason Collins.)