With the news of NFL prospect and former Missouri defensive end Michael Sam announcing that he is gay, opinions have ranged far and wide on just what exactly his future will be. From anonymous NFL execs to head coaches, just about everyone has shared an opinion on the possibility of the soon first openly gay player in the NFL.
Interestingly enough though, some attention has turned back towards Jason Collins, and the fact that he still remains unsigned despite not being retired from the NFL. While I personally think the situations are very different given the time in their careers that they decided to come out, some have pointed out that Collins openly acknowledges his homosexuality and still can’t find a job. New NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke on the topic recently and shared his thoughts on Collins specifically.
“In terms of Jason not getting signed, based on everything I’ve been told, it’s a basketball decision,” Silver told ESPN’s Darren Rovell. “Our teams want to win and Jason waited until the very tail-end of his career to make that announcement.”
I think the fact that Collins is 35 years old can’t be ignored in this situation and strictly from a basketball standpoint, isn’t an extremely productive player. So I can certainly understand teams probably not wanting to even go down that road.