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Gronk Would Be Cool With A Gay Teammate, As Long As He Was, Like, Respectful And Stuff

Rob Gronkowski, a manly man, manning a manly position, within a sport reserved for only the manliest of men, seems comfortable with his heterosexuality.

So how would you expect him to respond to an Outsports.com reporter’s introduction of himself as, “(I’m) with Outsports, we call it ESPN for homos,” at the ESPYs red carpet?

Well, Gronk was reportedly “taken back a bit,” but only because “he was just afraid of saying something wrong.” This comes right before the reports of the Patriots telling their mammoth tight end that “his summer of Gronk, so to speak, is over.”

Gronk did come back for a brief interview, however.

“Have you ever played with a gay teammate?” I asked.

He thought for a moment and said he didn’t know of any.

“How would you feel if one of your teammates on the Patriots came out of the closet this season?”

This time he didn’t pause.

“If that’s how they are, that’s how they are,” Gronkowski said. “I mean, we’re teammates so, as long as he’s being a good teammate and being respectful and everything, that’s cool.”

I’m not entirely sure what the “being respectful” thing means, but it’s good to see another athlete say he’d support an openly-gay teammate. Things like this might not seem like a big deal, but in time, sooner or later, a big-time, active athlete will come out of the closet, and quotes like this bring that one step closer, even if it’s still many steps away.

[OutSports.com]

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