Out tennis legend Billie Jean King
thinks “it's great [Michael Sam is] getting a second chance” to
make it in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys signed Sam, the NFL's first
openly gay player to be drafted, to their 10-player practice squad
four days after the St. Louis Rams cut him from their roster.
King told the AP that she hopes “this
will tee him up for other opportunities.”
She was asked when gay athletes will no
longer be news.
“When we have more guys who are gay
and it's a non-issue.,” she
answered. “I don't know how many gay football players in the
NFL it will take.”
Progress, she said, comes “one by
one,” noting the contributions of professional athletes who have
come out, including Brooklyn Nets player Jason Collins, Phoenix
Mercury center Brittney Griner and Sam.
(Related: WNBA's
Brittney Griner, Glory Johnson engaged.)
“One of the biggest things that would
help is if one of the quarterbacks who is straight, or all
collectively say, 'This is a non-issue. Let's get on with it. As
long as they do their job, we don't care.'”
“The Bradys, the Lucks, the Romos,
Payton Manning, Eli Manning, if all those guys would just say –
'This is so ridiculous, as long as the guy can play, we don't care
what color, what sexual orientation.”
“If the media stops talking about it,
it will be helpful. The reason we cover it, it's an exception.
That's the way the world works, the way the news works,” she added.