Watch above: Global’s The Morning Show hosts on why Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen’s take on gay NFL prospect Michael Sam is controversial.
TORONTO – The day after Missouri NFL prospect Michael Sam came out as an “openly proud gay man,” one Southern sportscaster from Dallas stole the spotlight.
Dale Hansen, an award-winning sports anchor on ABC’s Dallas affiliate WFAA, hosts one of the most popular local shows in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.
And his reaction to the potential for the first openly gay man in the NFL is not what you might expect from someone headlines describe as an “old, white guy.”
Hansen used his platform to comment on some of the hypocrisy and backwards-thinking in the realm of professional sports.
“Several NFL officials are telling Sports Illustrated it will hurt him on draft day because a gay player wouldn’t be welcome in an NFL locker room. It would be uncomfortable, because that’s a man’s world.
You beat a woman and drag her down a flight of stairs, pulling her hair out by the roots? You’re the fourth guy taken in the NFL draft.
You kill people while driving drunk? That guy’s welcome.
Players caught in hotel rooms with illegal drugs and prostitutes? We know they’re welcome.
Players accused of rape and pay the woman to go away?
You lie to police trying to cover up a murder?
We’re comfortable with that.
You love another man? Well, now you’ve gone too far!”
While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly which players Hansen is referencing, the San Diego Union-Tribune has created a database of NFL player arrests since 2000. You can browse it here.
You can also read the full speech as posted by Hansen here or watch the segment below:
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