David Kopay. A gay athlete I admire a lot. Thanks David for coming out and for encouraging other gay athletes to come out too.
Update: In a 2014 ESPN documentary, David reveals that he had a one-night affair with fellow pro footballer Jerry Smith. Queerty tells us more about what happened:
In the film, Kopay recalls the night he and Smith went out drinking and wound up in bed together. It is a heartbreaking vignette.That's kind of sad, no? Can you imagine what might have been if these two lived at a time when they didn't have to hide in the closet?
“I thought this was really good,” Kopay says. “At least I was sharing something of myself with someone who’s close and understood all that I had been through and understood so much of what we hoped for would come. And that’s where we left it. And it never happened again.”
After retiring, Kopay write an autobiography, published in 1977, when he became one of the first professional athletes to come out. In the book, he recounts having s*x with another athlete, for whom he uses an alias. Smith never spoke to Kopay after that.
It is great to find out that, apparently, Kopay and Smith were protected by their coach Vince Lombardi against homophobic attacks. Maybe Lombardi, who had a gay brother, is the very first straight ally of gay athletes, no?
From ESPN:
"Lombardi protected and loved Jerry," Kopay said by phone. The retired running back said he was "absolutely, 100 percent sure" his coach knew that two Redskins executives, including Slattery, were gay "because he was so close to both of them it would've been impossible for Lombardi not to know."
So is David Kopay in a relationship now? Does he have a boyfriend or a husband to go riding off to the sunset with? We sure hope so.
For those of you wondering how Kopay is doing now, the Hollywood Reporter did a video interview with the former NFL running back. Watch: