Calvin Hill and Grant Hill sat down with Bill Rhoden for a conversation for an original presentation on Epix. The father and son talked about their experiences with gay athletes.
Calvin opened up about playing with gay tight end Jerry Smith on the Washington Redskins.
When I was first told that he was gay, it was a shock. I was probably – this was in teh 70s – I was probably slightly homophobic. But watching him and being a member of a team with him and watching how he contributed as a teammate it got me past – he was a wonderful teammate and a great player.
Grant Hill spent his last year in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers. He was with them when Jason Collins came out publicly as gay last April.
When Jason Collins came out it made a lot of people uncomfortable, it really did. Certainly a lot of people who might have said the right thing publicly, privately may have said things differently.
The comments by the two men show the true dynamic gay pro athletes face: Some athletes are uncomfortable with he idea, but once they play with a gay athlete they realize they're just contributor members of the team too.
You can catch this episode of Personal with Bill Rhoden Wednesday, June 11, at 8pmET on Epix.
