BRAVO TO VALIANT ARIZONA RECRUIT
Johnson is first active openly gay scholarship player in major program
His tweet Saturday was simple. I’m just here to play football. Yes, you are, My-King Johnson, and here’s to you for being brave, honest and trailblazing.
To be transparent about who you are about to become, the first active openly gay scholarship player in major-college football, will have a profound impact on a generation of youth grappling with their sexuality. It won’t be easy. The slurs already have surfaced on social media.
“I do feel like when I say that, it can put a target on my back,” the Arizona football recruit told the Arizona Daily Star.
And yet you marched on, unwilling to be dishonest about how you choose to live your life. Bravo. Gay. African American. Football player. All descriptions subjected to stereotypes. Most of us could never presume to understand the complexities of your experiences.
The reactions have been complicated: immense support, moderate disgust and significant curiosity about why this is even a story.
Because despite what Kyrie Irving might suggest, the world is not flat. We are not operating on a level playing field.
If we were, the NHL’s Andrew Shaw wouldn’t have been suspended last April for hurling a gay slur at an official.
If we were, the NBA’s Rajon Rondo wouldn’t have been suspended in 2015 for calling a gay referee the same slur.
If we were, Major League Soc- cer’s Alan Gordon wouldn’t have been suspended in 2013 for directing the same slur toward an opponent.
If we were, baseball’s Noah Syndergaard wouldn’t have used that same word in a tweet to a friend in 2012.
If we were, the NFL’s Tank Carder wouldn’t have directed that same word to a fan on social media in 2012.
Five years. Five athletes. Five sports. So, yes, it matters, even though many of us want to believe it shouldn’t anymore.
And here’s to Vince Amey, the former Arizona State lineman and current Arizona assistant, for getting in front of the story. Amey told the Arizona Daily
Star he said this to King: “Look, you are who you are, I am who I am, and I’m going to coach you the same way. I’m going to treat you the same way. I’m going to get on you the same way as everybody else. There’s no difference. You do what you do. When the players find out, especially my room, I’m going to tell (those) dudes: ‘Look, you gotta have his back.’ ”
If you’re an Arizona resident, you should be proud of how forward-thinking the football programs here have been of late, from the support Arizona State gave Chip Sarafin — the first Division I openly gay player (he was a walk-on) — to the NFL Cardinals’ willingness to hire the first female coach, Jen Welter, as a training camp intern.
Now it’s Johnson and the support from Arizona.
Bravo, young man. Bravo.