San Francisco 49ers tight end sat down with Larry King and was asked a variety of topics on football, ranging from Richard Sherman to dealing with injuries to whether college players should be paid. He was also asked about an openly gay NFL player:
Larry King: How far are we away from a gay- major gay athlete in professional sport? Team sport.
Vernon Davis: Um, I think um, within the next five to six years you’ll see a lot of gay guys come out into the world of sports.
King: Will the NFL be the last place?
Davis: I think the NFL will be the first place.
King: Really?
Davis: Yes.
King: Before baseball or basketball.
Davis: Possibly.
King: One basketball player came out [Jason Collins] but nobody signed him.
Davis: Yeah, you’re right.
King: He had a whole career but he came out at the end of his career and nobody signed him.
Davis: Yeah.
King: You think it’ll happen in the NFL first.
Davis: I think it will. I think it will.
King: I would hope so.
Davis: Yeah.
I realize that there have been out players in Major League Soccer, the WNBA and Australian rugby, but I took King's question to deal with the Big 4 North American male pro team sports — NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball. I liked how matter of fact Davis was. I hope he's right that a "lot of gay guys" will be out and it seems certain that they would have a supportive teammate in Davis.
You can watch the clip here. The full interview airs Feb. 6 on Hulu.
