1993 Hoton Oilers had 2 gay players on roster, former teammat say

gay houston oilers player

HOUSTON -- Lately the discsn of gay NFL players don't ask if there are any, but rather centers around when a gay player would feel fortable enough to make his sexual orientatn public.

Contents:

HOTON OILERS HAD AT LEAST TWO GAY PLAYERS, FORMER TEAMMAT {FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}{FONT:NORMAL 800 1.2REM/1.2 "D BOLD",SANS-SERIF;TEXT-TRANSFORM:NORMAL;LOR:HER;DISPLAY:LE-BLOCK;PADDG-BOTTOM:6PX;POSN:RELATIVE;TEXT-TRANSFORM:UPPERSE;}{BACKGROUND:#89308A;BOTTOM:0;NTENT:'';DISPLAY:BLOCK;HEIGHT:2PX;LEFT:0;POSN:ABSOLUTE;RIGHT:0;-WEBK-TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;TRANSN:ALL 0.2S EASE;WIDTH:100%;}{LEFT:51%;RIGHT:51%;WIDTH:0;}LIFEBY DAN AVERYDECEMBER 26, 2013/11:46 PMBY DAN AVERYDECEMBER 26, 2013 / 11:46 PM{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"NEWSARTICLE","HEADLE":"HOTON OILERS HAD AT LEAST TWO GAY PLAYERS, FORMER TEAMMAT SAY","DATEPUBLISHED":"2013-12-27T04:46:58.000+0000","DATEMODIFIED":"2013-12-27T04:46:58.000+0000","IMAGE":{"@NTEXT":","@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT","WIDTH":1920,"HEIGHT":1080},"URL":","THOR":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","NAME":"LOGO TV"},"MAENTYOFPAGE":{"@TYPE":"WEBPAGE","@ID":"},"PUBLISHER":{"@TYPE":"ORGANIZATN","@ID":","NAME":"LOGO TV","URL":","LOGO":{"@TYPE":"IMAGEOBJECT"}},"CREATOR":"DAN AVERY","ARTICLESECTN":"LIFE"}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}WE'RE ALL EAGERLY WAG FOR THE PRO-ATHLETE CLOSET TO BE DISMANTLED FOR GOOD, BUT LET'S NOT FET THAT GAY MEN HAVE BEEN QUIETLY PLAYG THE NFL, NBA AND MLB ALL ALONG: MEMBERS OF THE 1993 HOTON OILERS HAVE E FORWARD A RECENT TERVIEW AND STATED THAT AT LEAST TWO TEAMMAT WERE WILY KNOWN TO BE GAY, AND THE TEAM DIDN'T HAVE A REAL PROBLEM WH {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}“EVERYBODY THE LOCKER ROOM, THE NSENS KNEW OR HAD AN IA THAT THGS WERE NOT EXACTLY RIGHT," FORMER OILERS LEBACKER LAMAR LATHON TOLD THE HOTON CHRONICLE. "BUT GUS WHAT? WHEN THEY STRAPPED THE PADS ON AND GOT ON THE FIELD, MAN, WE WERE GOG TO WAR WH THE GUYS BEE THEY WERE UNBELIEVABLE.” LATHON LLED THE UNNAMED PLAYERS  "UNBELIEVABLE TEAMMAT" AND SISTG THAT "IF YOU WANTED TO GO TO WAR WH SOMEONE, YOU WOULD GET THOSE GUYS FIRST."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}[PTN ID="ATTACHMENT_137434" ALIGN="ALIGNRIGHT" WIDTH="239"] WARREN MOON WH THE HOTON OILERS. (PHOTO: GETTY IMAG)[/PTN]{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}THE REVELATN IS ALL THE MORE STUNNG GIVEN THAT THE 1993 OILERS HAVE BEEN LLED THE MOST DYSFUNCTNAL PRO FOOTBALL TEAM NFL HISTORY: THE TEAM HAD A ROCKY START BUT WON 11 STRAIGHT GAM THAT YEAR, THE LONGT THE NFL SCE 1972. BUT THEY LOST ABYSMALLY THE FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFFS TO JOE MONTANA AND THE KANSAS CY {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}RUMORS ABOUT THE TUMULTUO TEAM CIRCULATED THE MEDIA AT THE TIME: ERNT GIVENS, WHO PLAYED WH THE OILERS THE 1990S WAS THE SUBJECT OF GAY MORS, BUT NIED THEM TO ESPN 1998. (DEFENSIVE TACKLE JEFF ALM WAS, TOO, WHEN HE MTED SUICI AFTER KILLG HIS BT IEND A DNK-DRIVG ACCINT 1993.){BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}"I KNOW OF A UPLE OF PLAYERS WHO I WON'T MENTN THEIR NAM BEE THEY HAVE NOT MA PUBLIC YET," HALL OF FAMER WARREN MOON ANNOUNCED ON THE VICTOR AND MATT SPORTS PODST 2011. "IT REALLY DON’T BOTHER ME WHAT YOUR SEXUAL PREFERENCE IS AS LONG AS YOU DON’T BRG YOUR SEXUAL PREFERENC TO THE LOCKER ROOM... AS LONG AS YOU'RE G TO THE FOOTBALL TEAM AND BRGG A POSIVE FLUENCE, THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS TO ME."{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}DISHMAN ADD THE TWO PLAYERS BEG DISCSED NOW WERE ACPLISHED ON THE FIELD, AND SAID SHOWERG WH THEM WAS  “NO BIG AL.”{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;PADDG:24PX 0;} A{LOR:#354A4E;-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;TEXT-RATN:UNRLE;} A:HOVER, A:FOC{-WEBK-TEXT-RATN:NONE;TEXT-RATN:NONE;} B, STRONG{FONT-WEIGHT:700;}SO THE LSON IS PRO TEAMS WILL EAGERLY ACCEPT A GAY PLAYER—IF HE'S AN {BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;CLEAR:BOTH;}{BOX-SIZG:BORR-BOX;MARG:0 TO;WIDTH:90%;M-WIDTH:288PX;MAX-WIDTH:1440PX;M-HEIGHT:194PX;}LATT NEWS

Former Hoton Oilers players says the 1993 roster was okay wh two spected gay teammat, but their ments aren't as supportive as they've been ma to seem. * gay houston oilers player *

We're all eagerly wag for the pro-athlete closet to be dismantled for good, but let's not fet that gay men have been quietly playg the NFL, NBA and MLB all along: Members of the 1993 Hoton Oilers have e forward a recent terview and stated that at least two teammat were wily known to be gay, and the team didn't have a real problem wh .

THE NFL'S BEEN OKAY WH GAY PLAYERS FOR 20 YEARS? YEAH RIGHT

At least two members of the 1993 Hoton Oilers were gay and apparently didn't try too hard to hi om the rt of the team. * gay houston oilers player *

But they lost abysmally the first-round playoffs to Joe Montana and the Kansas Cy about the tumultuo team circulated the media at the time: Ernt Givens, who played wh the Oilers the 1990s was the subject of gay mors, but nied them to ESPN 1998.

”So the lson is pro teams will eagerly accept a gay player—if he's an MVP. Former Hoton Oilers players says the 1993 roster was okay wh two spected gay teammat, but their ments aren't as supportive as they've been ma to Hoton Oilers 1994. (AP / Lynn Sladky)The Hoton Chronicle ran a 9, 000-word oral history of the 1993 Hoton Oilers last week, and ments om former players Lamar Lathon and Bubba McDowell regardg gay teammat, a ty part of the story, garnered the most attentn om natnal the Chronicle:McDowell: “Everybody knew certa guys [were gay].

EX-HOTON OILERS SAY THEY HAD GAY TEAMMAT; WAS ‘NO BIG AL’

Two players on the 1993 Hoton Oilers were gay, and their teammat knew and didn't re, acrdg to the Hoton Chronicle. * gay houston oilers player *

”As more and more retired athlet have e out recent years, homosexualy and spots has bee a high-profile topic lately. Sce this story surfaced, Lathon’s and McDowell’s ments have been ced as support for the ia that NFL might be ready for openly gay players. Sports, for example, led s verage by sayg “The topic of whether a gay player would be accepted a NFL locker room is probably overblown.

THE HOTON OILERS HAD TWO (MOSTLY) OPENLY GAY PLAYERS IN 1993

The two gay players were accepted as "unbelievable teammat" the locker room, acrdg to a report. * gay houston oilers player *

”Remend ReadgWhile that seems to be the general takeaway om the Chronicle piece, some have treated as a evince that locker rooms have been reasonably iendly environments for gay players for two s.

The New York Daily News opened s story, “The qutn of whether the NFL is ready for a gay player was already answered 20 years ago. The language ed—vague ments alludg to tchg them the proverbial closet durg hotel stays and lunch breaks, and most of the team knowg “thgs were not exactly right”—tells a different story, one where homosexualy was kd of, sort of, but not exactly, okay.

1993 HOTON OILERS HAD 2 GAY PLAYERS ON ROSTER, FORMER TEAMMAT SAY

Former Hoton Oilers players say members of their 1993 team were gay and that nobody really red. * gay houston oilers player *

It sounds like beg gay was only excable bee was kept somewhat secret and bee those guys were beasts on the that Lathon and McDowell are the only players quoted, we don’t really get a full picture of what happened.

Still, if the ments are te—that generally no big issu arose om havg (somewhat closeted) gay players the locker room, uld shed light on what might be like for the first active player who cis to e the ments om another member of that 1993 Oilers team offers a different visn of what life might have been like for a gay player the ‘90s, and by extensn, what uld look like today. For years, Ernt Givs, a two-time Pro-Bowl receiver, was acced of beg gay. But when you start stereotypg athlet, start puttg that gay thg on them, that hurts more than anythg.

Regardls of whether he was one of the athlet McDowell and Lathon were talkg about, he pated a much bleaker picture of what was like to be a (actual or imaged) gay football player at the time: Beg a crimal and puttg liv at risk was more acceptable than lovg another Lathon’s and McDowell’s ments aren’t proof that the NFL has been ready for gay players for 20 years. They’re, at bt, jt another remr of how far the NFL, and profsnal sports general, still has to go when to acceptg gay was always slightly ahead of the tim when me to social progrs, and many ways has been a platform for men and women to break racial and cultural barriers before those barriers were broken wir society.

FORMER OILERS SAY TWO PLAYERS ON 1993 TEAM WERE GAY, NOBODY RED

* gay houston oilers player *

But, at a time when 18 stat have legalized gay marriage, and when we have openly gay teachers, rporate CEOs, and policians, sports is, perhaps for the first time, behd the rt of the culture the move towards openns and one of the four major US sports has an openly gay athlete currently playg.

TWO PLAYERS ON THE 1993 HOTON OILERS WERE GAY, AND MOST OF THEIR TEAMMAT DIDN'T CARE

The topic of whether a gay player would be accepted a NFL locker room is probably overblown. Players like teammat who n help them w. The rt is trivial. This is shown by the 1993 Hoton Oilers. The Hoton … Contue readg → * gay houston oilers player *

Rhos, who ni he’s gay, has explibly found himself out of the league, and ’s hard to image ’s bee of lack of talent—he’s one of the bt the Febary, San Francis 49ers rnerback Chris Culliver was wily cricized for makg homophobic ments, sayg “a’t got no gay people on the team. ”The cricism of Culliver pots toward the league’s movement away om s former reputatn as a bastn of homophobia.

PRIVATELY GAY HOTON OILERS NOT SURPRISG

Teammat and team executiv knew about the gay players and everyone got along jt fe. * gay houston oilers player *

Culliver’s “sweet stuff” ments show the root of the difficulty for gay athlet: Too many people are stuck on the ridiculo notn that toughns (or weakns) directly rrponds to sexual orientatn.

THE 1993 HOTON OILERS HAD AT LEAST TWO GAY PLAYERS, FORMER TEAMMAT SAY

He hasn’t played a game sce October, and ’s unclear whether he’ll ever take the field a sport nsired to be Ameri’s apex of manls, where masculy n be seen as directly rrelated wh sexual orientatn, ’s not surprisg that gay players rema reluctant to speak up, pecially when uld mean their job. “Thgs were not exactly right, ” was how Lathon phrased his spicn that those two players back ’93 were gay, but he might as well have been talkg about the league self—then and now. At least two members of the 1993 Hoton Oilers were gay and apparently didn’t try too hard to hi om the rt of the team.

“Everybody knew certa guys” were gay, former rnerback Cris Dishman told the Hoton Chronicle. Sports has e out as gay. Basketball player Jason Colls ma such a revelatn durg the off-season but he is still a ee agent who has yet to play for an NBA team durg the 2013-14 onle preview of the Chronicle article do not say whether the full article will name the purportedly gay Oilers Moss: ‘I uld still put up 15 or 16 touchdowns’All J.

TWO KEY MEMBERS OF THE 1993 HOTON OILERS WERE GAY

Two players on the 1993 Hoton Oilers were gay, and their teammat knew and didn't re, acrdg to the Hoton Chronicle. Beg part of the Miracle on Ice | Alex Elman's Ultimate Sports FantasyOffEnglishThe Chronicle has a big feature g this Sunday on the 1993 team, but a preview released today, reveals that there were players that "everybody knew" were gay, acrdg to former Pro-Bowler Cris Dishman, but that wasn't an issue the locker room. Here's the money quote om today's preview:Not only did the team know about the suatn, but players accepted their gay teammat and did not outst them.

'93 OILERS SAY TEAM HAD GAY TEAMMAT, WAS 'NO BIG AL'

Football players n be gay and functn perfectly well wh an NFL locker room. Acrdg to former players, two members of the roster were gay, rmatn that was wily known and accepted by teammat.

"Everybody knew certa guys (were gay).

In April, 12-year NBA veteran Jason Colls beme the first openly gay active athlete the four major U. Robbie Rogers of Major League Soccer beme the first openly gay player to actually participate a U. While the topic of gay players on NFL rosters has garnered a great al of attentn over the past few years, is hardly a new issue.

TWO EX-HOTON OILERS WERE GAY AND ACCEPTED BY TEAMMAT, ACRDG TO REPORT

There are likely gay men playg profsnal football today jt as there were gay men playg profsnal football 20 years ago. Acrdg to a few former players, the 1993 Hoton Oilers had two gay players on their roster and they were not ostracized any way. “Everybody knew certa guys (were gay), ” he said.

Both McDowell and Lathon said that showerg and beg the locker room wh their gay teammat was “no big al. Earlier this year, Vce Lombardi’s dghter claimed that her father worked wh at least five gay men on his 1969 Washgton Redsks team and protected any players or -workers that were discrimated agast.

If players and ach were aware that there were gay players locker rooms almost 50 years ago, I’m sure the same is te now.

'93 HOTON OILERS HAD TWO GAY PLAYERS, TEAMMAT SAY

NEWS FLASH: There have been some profsnal athlet the past (other than guys like Jason Colls) who have been gay. But whether you want to believe or not, there have been gay pro athlet—lots and lots of gay pro athlet—that have participated all sports the past.

That "news" is that two members—or, better yet, at least two members—of the 1993 Hoton Oilers were gay.

Most of their teammat really didn't re about know all of this bee the Hoton Chronicle is gog to publish a story about the 1993 Hoton Oilers on Sunday—that 1993 team was the team that famoly lost a playoff game to the Buffalo Bills after leadg 28-3 at halftime—and, while nductg terviews for the story, the Chronicle disvered that the '93 Oilers had at least two gay players on the team. ""Everybody knew certa guys [were gay], " former Oilers rnerback Cris Dishman yet, that Oilers team was still credibly hive, still had lots of succs, and is still remembered the Hoton area.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY HOUSTON OILERS PLAYER

1993 Hoton Oilers had 2 gay players on roster, former teammat say .

TOP