I saw this. Honestly I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel, but I think this guy will have it a lot easier than a non-athlete would when it comes time to tell the world they're gay. If this guy gets discriminated against and it becomes public, the discriminator gets crucified (as they should, but it wouldn't always get exposed if this wasn't a high profile person). There will be a lot more scrutiny on every single NFL team who looked at this dude. Even teams who didn't even consider this guy before he came out... if his stats are better (whatever combine metrics they use) if this kid's are better, and an NFL team takes somebody else who had worse metrics, that team is going to get questioned hardcore.
After the Incognito / Martin stuff, if a single person even says one word to this guy (not even a homophobic joke, but even giving him a hard time / normal rookie stuff) and it comes out in the media, that person will get absolutely crucified. This kid is going to have all of the support in the world, and he'll probably have enough to get a TV special or a movie or a book or at minimum some Ellen and Oprah interviews. Yes, I think it takes courage to come out and tell the world that you're gay. But I think it takes way more courage for your everyday Joe to come out and really face potential negative ramifications. For this SEC all star player he really doesn't have any potential downside. Under this type of microscope nobody will get away with any sort of bullying or discrimination, which is great for this guy. (side note, by the same transitive property, to that kicker from Minnesota, I'm pretty sure that you just got dropped and nobody else signed you because they determined you can't kick at the NFL level... not because of your orientation or opinion).
Would be interested to see where this guy was in the pre-come out mock drafts and the post come out mock drafts. I'm guessing it won't affect his status much one way or another which is the way it should be. Hopefully the example he sets will help other non-stars feel more comfortable admitting their true sexuality to the world. But I truly believe this dude has it way easier than most when it comes to announcing sexuality and gaining acceptance.
