Outsports, which bills itself as the "the broadest, deepest, most informative and most entertaining gay sports community" on the Internet, is asking the question, "Is Manti Te'o gay?"
"We've seen rumors and heard stories about countless athletes in the past. But not since Troy Aikman have I been bombarded on email, text, Twitter and phone calls about the sexual orientation of any athlete the way I was [Wednesday] about Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o," writes Cyd Zeigler Jr., president of Outsports, which was founded in 2000.
"I've heard from sports writers, fans of Outsports, leaders in the gay-sports world, and even old high school friends, in the last six hours all wondering, 'Is Te'o going to be the first openly gay NFL player?' "
The answer?
"I personally don't know," Zeigler writes. "But it seems to be the question everyone is asking. If he is, I hope he finds strength and acceptance; The vast majority of his friends, teammates and fans will support him whole-heartedly. If he's not, I hope he can answer some questions, because people want to know why on earth he would concoct this totally fabricated story — including eight-hour phone calls — if they never happened.
"I can certainly understand why people think this might be pointing to his sexual orientation. There has never been a publicly out NFL player. There has never been a publicly out Div. 1 football player. But we know they're out there. And if they were out there and wanted to hide their sexual orientation — or a relationship with another man — a fictitious girlfriend is a good way to do it. The fantastic story about car accidents and death by leukemia would just be showing off that stereotypical gay flair for the dramatic."
In 2009, Outsports detailed the story of a gay kicker on a Division I-A team in the Bible Belt. The player, who went by the pseudonym "Tim" in the story, was not totally "out." But his sexuality was not a problem with teammates and he often brought his boyfriend to team parties, according to Eric Anderson, who wrote the story.
"[Tim's] boyfriend is an openly gay former baseball player (he was closeted while playing) for his school. He comes to watch Tim play football whenever he can.
"Although Tim does not introduce him to his teammates as his boyfriend, 'people know,' Tim says. One of the team's seniors said to him this past season: 'I know about you, and if anyone ever messes with you, you just tell me who they are and I'll beat the crap out of whoever it is.' "
Pretty sure he is gay, too many holes in his story. If he comes out of the closet than I think people should just shut the hell up and let him be gay. The NFL better not hold it against him, also if someone in locker room is obnoxious to him, he better just kick their ass and his teammates better have his back. Who cares if he is gay? Just because he may be gay doesn't mean he wants to date any of them anyways.
Posted by: Soldier | January 17, 2013 at 02:06 AM
If he turns out to be gay, that doesn't excuse the chronic lying. He would still be complete scumbag for becoming the new Balloon Boy. Was his father, who talked to the press about the girlfriend many times, in on it, too?
Posted by: Not a hater | January 17, 2013 at 12:21 PM
He probably lied to his dad to cover up first, so I doubt his dad is in on this.
Then when his family want to see the dream girl he can't produce, he just 'kill' her off.
Posted by: cris | January 18, 2013 at 07:37 AM
If he made this whole thing up to try and win the Heisman he is one sick individual.
If he is a closeted gay man who was raised in a homophobic church, and is playing football at a University affiliated with another homophobic church, and was afraid that if anyone found he was gay his parents would disown him, the church would excommunicate him, he would be kicked off the team or out of Notre Dame, and would never not have a chance in the NFL it is totally understandable.
The fake girlfriend had to die because he knew that if he won the Heisman people were going to be looking for her wanting interviews. If the girlfriend died a particularly tragic death he figured he would get a pass from sportscasters asking why he wasn't dating anyone. They all would know the tragic story of how the love of his life had died and they wouldn't go there. If he wasn't dating they would just assume he still hadn't gotten over the dead girl yet.
As a closeted gay man living in the Bible Belt I sometimes felt like I was working undercover for the CIA when I was in my teens and twenties. I was always telling everyone my girlfriend couldn't make it to the social events I showed up to dateless, because she was sick, had to work, got stuck in traffic on the freeway, had to take her mom to the doctor, had to babysit her nephew, etc., etc., etc.
I am just an average Joe and I can't imagine how much harder it would been had I been in the national spotlight back when I was in college.
Posted by: Trevor | January 21, 2013 at 03:32 PM
He's not gay. Move on Outsports.
Posted by: T-Bone | January 24, 2013 at 01:32 PM