Brendon Ayanbadejo will lay it out to you straight. As in, be straight if you want to play in the NFL.
Ayanbejo, a Baltimore Ravens linebacker who has become an outspoken advocate for LGBT equality, was asked what he'd tell an NFL Draft hopeful who was supposedly asked about his sexual orientation.
"Selfishly, I think players need to say they're straight right now," Ayanbadejo told an MSNBC interviewer on Wednesday.
Nick Kasa, a tight end with the University of Colorado, set off a controversy when he revealed that a scout for an unidentified NFL team asked him if he "liked girls" during an interview, according to reports.
Such a question violates the NFL's official policy, but it's long been asserted that a gay NFL player would have a very difficult time getting signed and being accepted in the locker room, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported.
Ayanbadejo was attempting to be realistic when he said that an NFL hopeful, regardless of his real orientation, should tell NFL scouts what they want to hear. Which is: they're straight.
"You need to get drafted as high as you can get drafted, get the money while you can," he said. "Your career's only going to last 3.5 years."
"The way things are going right now with the bigotry that still exists and discrimination that still exists within the locker room and sports arena in general, I think you need to say, 'Hey, I'm straight. I love women.' And keep things so-called normal," Ayanbadejo continued. "Maybe later, once you've established yourself and when we break down some of these walls in the NFL, players will be more comfortable to be who they are."
