February 6, 2014
NFL Star: I'm Afraid of Showering With Gay Teammates
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 1 MIN.
A linebacker for the NFL's New Orleans Saints ruffled feathers this week after he told the media Sunday that he wouldn't be too happy if one of his teammates came out as gay and he had to shower with him in the locker room.
In an interview with the NFL Network's chief correspondent, Andrea Kramer, linebacker Jonathan Vilma discussed a number of topics, including health and safety. Kramer also asked him about having an openly gay teammate.
"I think he would not be accepted as much as we think he would be accepted," the athlete said. "I don't want people to just naturally assume, oh, we're all homophobic. That's really not the case. Imagine if he's the guy next to me, and you know, I get dressed, naked, taking a shower, the whole nine, and it just so happens he looks at me, how am I supposed to respond?"
This isn't the first time Vilma has come under fire for comments about the LGBT community. In 2011 the football player sent out a controversial tweet, the Huffington Post reports.
"Grown men should NOT hav [sic] female tendencies. Period."
After he was hit with backlash, he said, "So of course the homosexual men get sensitive to my tweet and respond all ticked off. RELAX I was not referring to u guys."
