Following his inspiring praise of newly out football player Michael Sam and smackdown of homophobia in the NFL went viral, Dallas-based sportscaster Dale Hansen (AKA our new hero) accepted an invitation to appear on Ellen to continue the discussion. Hanson walked onstage to join host Ellen DeGeneres and was greeted by a standing ovation from her studio audience. DeGeneres and Hansen express mutual admiration. She tells him he’s “an amazing man” and that his speech was brilliantly written and delivered, while Hansen reveals he and his wife have seen DeGeneres perform in Dallas. Hansen shrugs off compliments that he was brave to give his speech during a live newscast. “The brave thing, and the great thing, was what Michael Sam did,” he muses. Hansen says he was speaking from his heart, but adds that he wanted to “slam the hypocrisy of the NFL.” Hansen reveals that he’s received calls from Christians, “some who don’t like me now,” as well as every spectrum of America and “the response has been incredibly overwhelmingly positive.”