Matt Birk on Michael Sam: Thinks players will answer the bell
By Mike Dyce
There has been a lot of speculation about how an NFL locker room would handle a openly gay teammate. Former Baltimore Ravens center Matt Birk weighed in now that Missouri defensive end Michael Sam has come out, which caught a lot of people’s attention considering Birk wrote an op-ed opposing expanding the legal definition of marriage for the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 2012
“There is a difference between trying to talk about what marriage is and what my feelings are toward individuals. There are actually many people that are close to me that are gay,” Birk said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. “But in the end, the issue is someone’s sexuality: Does it really ever come into play at work? I don’t think so.”
“I know there are stereotypes about football players and what the locker room is like and all that,” Birk continued. “Some of those stereotypes, sometimes we’re our own worst enemies. We take advantage of all the perks of the locker room. Sometimes that means you act like a teenager. But when push comes to shove, when you’re talking about something like this, this serious issue and monumental of an issue, I really think football players will answer the bell.”