Wed. May 22, 2013
Sportscaster Bob Costas believes Jason Collins was the "perfect guy" to become the U.S.'s first openly gay professional athlete.
Collins, a 34-year-old 12-year NBA veteran, came out gay two weeks ago on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
"I think he's a perfect candidate for a couple of reasons," Costas told CNN's Piers Morgan. "One. He's obviously an extremely bright, well educated guy, and he's able to understand, and if he chooses to, speak articulately about the issue. But also, he's been in the league for a long time. So some of these vague notions that players may have – 'Well, geez how will he act in the locker room? [Do] we want to take a shower with him?' – you know, all that sort of thing. Well, wait a minute, not only has he been in the league for 12 years, he's been with a half-dozen teams. He's probably been a teammate of yours or a teammate of someone who you know. And none of these fears has ever come to pass."
"He's the perfect guy to deflect all of these either bigoted, or, let's be kind, some people are uncomfortable and haven't come around on it yet. He's the perfect person to give the lie to those notions," he added.
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