Former Chicago Bears Star Claims Some Religions Will Never Accept Gay Footballers
Jim Miller, who played as a quarterback for the Chicago Bears and is now a post-game show host, recently said that religion is a barrier for gay players looking to find acceptance in the NFL locker room.
"There are some religions that are just not going to accept a gay individual in the locker room," Miller said Tuesday on WSCR-AM 670 in Chicago. "So now, are you as an organization going to bring that element into your locker room and think everything is going to be OK?"
Miller insisted that traditional religious understandings will always be a problem for gay people, and argued that the only thing that should matter for a football player is not their sexual orientation but how well they can play the sport or not.
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"Last time I checked, whether it's Christianity or Muslims or other religions that are out there, they're just not going to accept it. They're just not. It's just not realistic for … any progressive or liberal to think that everything is going to be OK in the locker room and we should all just wise up and accept it," Miller said.
Most recently, former San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Kwame Harris was arrested for domestic abuse against his ex-boyfriend, prompting some players, like current 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver to speak out against homosexuality in sports.
"I don't do the gay guys. I don't do that," Culliver said on a radio show in January. "We don't have any gay guys on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can't be with that sweet stuff."
In his own radio interview, Miller agreed that parts of the NFL locker room will never accept gay teammates.
"I could care less," Miller said. "You can play football or you can't. I'm just giving you my point of view that certain factions of a locker room will not accept it. ... That's the reality of the situation."
Back in 2011, NY Giants receiver David Tyree, a Christian, spoke out against gay marriage, which was legalized in the state, warning that such a practice is unbiblical.
The receiver argued that "marriage is the only relationship that mirrors a relationship with God," and warned that same-sex marriage sends the message that you don't need a mother and a father.
"You can't teach something that you don't have. Two men will never be able to show a woman how to be a woman," Tyree said in an interview with the National Organization for Marriage. "That's just simple, for lack of a better term, common sense."
