Chargers tight end Dante Rosario

We've been begging reporters for years to start asking professional athletes their thoughts on gay issues and having a gay teammate. For the most part they've been afraid to do so. Enter U-T San Diego sports writer Matt Calkin, who tracked down several professional athletes in Southern California for this very question.

Among those he interviewed were three San Diego Chargers. Their responses:

Chargers tight end Dante Rosario

We've been begging reporters for years to start asking professional athletes their thoughts on gay issues and having a gay teammate. For the most part they've been afraid to do so. Enter U-T San Diego sports writer Matt Calkin, who tracked down several professional athletes in Southern California for this very question.

Among those he interviewed were three San Diego Chargers. Their responses:

  • Tight end Dante Rosario: “I can only speak for myself, but personally, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.”
  • Offensive lineman Nick Hardwick: “In this locker room, as long as you show up early, work hard, you’re dialed into the game plan, and you play like a monster on Sundays, that’s all you can ask for. … It’s only a matter of time before (someone from one of the four major sports comes out), and really – who cares?”
  • Receiver Robert Meachem: “It’s not my place to judge anybody.”

He also talked to Los Angeles Lakers Steve Nash and the-man-formerly-known-as-Ron-Artest, along with Los Angeles Clipper Grant Hill and Sacramento King Jimmer Fredette. All of the expressed had a positive reaction to the idea of an athlete coming out.

Calkin told me there was one athlete he approached who declined to answer questions about the topic. Read Calkin's whole piece here!

PHOTO: Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE

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