And another article under the topic of 'Why is this even newsworthy in this day and age'...
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9137573/brendon-ayanbadejo-says-four-players-considering-coming-gay
since apparently you need to have it explained to you: it's a story because there is either one or zero openly gay players in the NFL, i believe. little boys look up to professional sport players. maybe when they see some of their idols as proudly gay, or supportive of their gay teammates, then they'll be safer and/or more tolerant. the is a strong anti-gay culture in professional sports and this story is helping to break down that culture (oh, wait, conservatives hate change). that same culture is leading to kids being beaten by other kids because of who they are.
taking a step back, the following doesn't necessarily apply to RB:
it's laughable how the right wing has moved from vocal opposition to all things gay, to trying to dismiss gay issues entirely. it's a regular comment in any story about gay rights: "why is this even in the news, it's a personal matter, don't shove your sexuality in my face", etc. it's understandable, tho: for a while the right wingnuts and religious bigots though they had control or at least influence in society so they got on their soapboxes to shout down all things gay. now, the times have passed them by. they are no longer relevant. and since no one is listening to them, the best they can hope for is to get others to ignore what they would rather have go away - like gay rights.
and it's funny how NOW they don't want someone else's sexuality shoved in their face, considering the right's track record of messing with others' sexuality (sex ed, abortion, anti-gay-marriage, abstinence-only programs, etc)