From the always plugged-in Mike Freeman, at CBS Sports:

Based on interviews over the past several weeks with current and former players, I'm told that a current gay NFL player is strongly considering coming out publicly within the next few months — and after doing so, the player would attempt to continue his career.


Take it with the requisite grain of salt, as Freeman doesn't even know who the player is. It's still intriguing.

The gays in sports thing seems to be nearing a head, with You Can Play and Robbie Rogers and combine orientation quizzes and Outsports' purchase and Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo and Chris Culliver, but all of this without an actual active, openly gay athlete in a major American sport. If ever there was a time to come out and take advantage of a positive media environment, this is it.


It'd still be hard, though. And the word on the street is that the player isn't worried about how his teammates would take it, but rather the fans.

This player's true concern, I'm told, is not the reaction inside an NFL locker room but outside of it. The player fears he will suffer serious harm from homophobic fans, and that is the only thing preventing him from coming out.

First you think no, this is America in 2013, NFL fans can handle it. And then you look at the comments below the CBS story.

[CBS Sports]