At the Washington Redskins training camp in 1969, Ray McDonald was a gay player, with sub-par skills, who was trying to maintain his spot on the roster, but this time with Lombardi as the Redskins' new head coach.
Lombardi invited other gay players to training camp, and would privately hope they would prove they could earn a spot on the team. Under Lombardi's leadership Smith flourished, becoming an integral part of Lombardi's offense, and was voted a First Team All-Pro for the first time in his career, which was also Lombardi's only season as Redskin head coach. Lombardi brought Smith into his office and told him that his sexual orientation would never be an issue as long as he was coaching the Redskins Smith would be judged solely on his on-the-field performance and contribution to the team's success. "Lombardi protected and loved Jerry", said former teammate Dave Kopay. '" Upon his arrival in Washington, Lombardi was aware of tight end Jerry Smith's gay sexual orientation. And if you do have an issue, the problem will be yours because my locker room will tolerate nothing but acceptance. During his time in Washington, Lombardi's assistant general manager, David Slatterly, was gay, as was PR director Joe Blair, who was described as Lombardi's "right-hand man." According to son Vince Lombardi, Jr., "He saw everyone as equals, and I think having a gay brother (Hal) was a big factor in his approach.I think my father would've felt, 'I hope I've created an atmosphere in the locker room where this would not be an issue at all. Demanding "Nothing But Acceptance" from players and coaches toward all people, Lombardi would fire a coach or release a player should they insult the sexual orientation of anyone. While Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi was known to treat his players roughly in practices and during games, he insisted on unconditional respect for gay players and front office staff.
Fear of backlash from employers, teammates and fans has stopped players from coming out. Anti-gay slurs are sometimes used in the locker room. Heterosexuality is flaunted in NFL locker rooms with the passing of pornographic magazines and videos, and visits to strip clubs. The generally masculine environment that exists in football, along with the hypermasculinity promoted by sportscasters, make it difficult for a player to come out.
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Also in 2018, Division II Wyatt Pertuset of Capital University became the first openly gay college player to score a touchdown. In 2018, Bradley Kim of the Air Force Academy came out as gay, thus becoming the first openly gay football player to play for any military academy in the United States open homosexuality was forbidden in the U.S. Later that same year, Frantz became the first openly gay college football player to play in a game for an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision school. In 2017, Scott Frantz publicly came out as gay, joining My-King Johnson as two of the first openly gay players in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. In August 2014, Arizona State player Chip Sarafin became the first publicly out active Division I player when he came out as gay. In college football, Division III player Conner Mertens came out as bisexual in January 2014, becoming the first active college football player at any level to publicly come out as bisexual. He became the first publicly gay player to play in the Canadian Football League in August 2015. Louis Rams in the 2014 NFL Draft, and thus became the first publicly gay player drafted in the league, but was released before the start of the regular season. Six former NFL players have come out publicly after they retired. There has been only one player who has publicly come out as gay or bisexual while being an active player in the National Football League (NFL): Carl Nassib, who revealed himself as gay on June 21, 2021. In 2021, Carl Nassib became the first active player in the NFL to publicly come out.