Michael Irvin is on the cover of Out magazine (1 Viewer)

[B-Deep]

The playmaker taking up a cause:

Michael Irvin's always been a passionate guy. He played with passion as he helped the Dallas Cowboys win three Super Bowls, and he speaks passionately now that he's paid to talk about the game.

His passion has most recently turned towards the gay community. The Playmaker now sees it as his mission in life to fight homophobia and bring people closer together.

To that end, he's on the current cover of Out magazine, a publication that deals with gay men's fashion, entertainment and lifestyle. Inside, Irvin opens up about his days as a young, homophobic player in the NFL, the cross-dressing homosexual brother who made him (eventually) change his attitudes, what he's doing about it now, and what life might be like for a gay player in today's NFL.

It's a fascinating read, and even having been a fan of Irvin's for years, it's a side of him about which I had no idea. Here are some snippets.

On what life might be like for a gay athlete in one of America's major sports today:

"I'm not gay, but I was afraid to even let anyone have the thought. I can only imagine the agony—being a prisoner in your own mind -- for someone who wants to come out. If I'm not gay and I am afraid to mention it, I can only imagine what an athlete must be going through if he is gay."

On how Irvin's Cowboys might have handled it if they had an openly gay teammate:

"I believe, if a teammate had said he was gay, we would have integrated him and kept moving because of the closeness. [...] We had a bunch of different characters on that team. Deion [sanders] and Emmitt [smith]. I believe that team would have handled it well."

On an athlete coming out in today's sports world:

"If anyone comes out in those top four major sports, I will absolutely support him," says Irvin. "That's why I do my radio show every day. When these issues come out, I want to have a voice to speak about them. I think growth comes when we share. Until we do that, we're going to be stuck in the Dark Ages about a lot of things. When a guy steps up and says, 'This is who I am,' I guarantee you I'll give him 100% support."

Again, you can read the article online here, and see more pictures from Irvin's Out photoshoot. I hope you'll take a look at it, especially if you're DeSean Jackson.

 

[B-Deep]

http://www.out.com/images/206/2sportsMichaelIrvin2.jpg

http://www.out.com/images/206/2sportsMichaelIrvin1.jpg

 

[B-Deep]

this was supposed to go in the FFA, it could prolly be moved.

 

[Carter_Can_Fly]

Good for him.

 

[B-Deep]

Good for him.

i agree!he looks to be in pretty good shape too!

 

[GregR_2]

I am generally not a fan of Irvin, to the point of frequently turning the TV when a show has him on as a commentator for very long. But kudos for making this stand. Here's the ESPN write up on the article which has some more details of it.

Former Dallas Cowboys great Michael Irvin appears shirtless on the cover of this month's gay men's magazine Out and discusses his passion for equality issues.Irvin publicly acknowledges that the impetus for taking a stand comes from his relationship with his gay brother, Vaughn, who died of stomach cancer in 2006. Irvin had not spoken publicly about his brother previously, according to the magazine.In the article, Irvin describes how his brother's sexual orientation contributed to his own issues.He says that he found out his brother was gay in the late 1970s, when he found Vaughn wearing women's clothing. Michael Irvin was rattled by the experience and has figured out since that it contributed to his own womanizing behavior. Working with a Dallas area bishop, T.D. Jakes, Irvin looked at the past."And through it all we realized maybe some of the issues I've had with so many women, just bringing women around so everybody can see, maybe that's the residual of the fear I had that if my brother is wearing ladies' clothes, am I going to be doing that? Is it genetic?" Irvin said to Out. "I'm certainly not making excuses for my bad decisions. But I had to dive inside of me to find out why am I making these decisions, and that came up."Irvin says that his father, Walter, helped him learn a tolerant form of Christianity because the elder Irvin accepted his gay son and encouraged him to love his brother unconditionally.Irvin now believes the African-American community should support marriage equality."I don't see how any African-American, with any inkling of history, can say that you don't have the right to live your life how you want to live your life," he said, according to the magazine. "No one should be telling you who you should love, no one should be telling you who you should be spending the rest of your life with. When we start talking about equality, and everybody being treated equally, I don't want to know an African-American who will say everybody doesn't deserve equality."More on the CowboysCalvin Watkins, Tim MacMahon and Todd Archer have the Dallas Cowboys blanketed for ESPNDallas.com. BlogMore: ESPN DallasCowboys Draft CenterThe Hall of Fame wide receiver believes that this work matters more than his football career."The last thing I want is to go to God and have him ask, 'What did you do?' And I talk about winning Super Bowls and national titles," Irvin said, according to Out. "I didn't do anything to make it a better world before I left? All I got is Super Bowls? That would be scary."Irvin would support any athlete who wants to come out."If anyone comes out in those top four major sports, I will absolutely support him. ... When a guy steps up and says, 'This is who I am,' I guarantee you I'll give him 100 percent support," Irvin said.And if the player produced on the field, he would have supported a gay teammate as well. Winning was paramount."I believe, if a teammate had said he's gay, we would have integrated him and kept moving because of the closeness," Irvin said, according to the magazine.He believes the team that won three Super Bowls could have integrated an openly gay teammate as well as any team."We had a bunch of different characters on that team," Irvin said. "Deion [sanders] and Emmitt [smith]. I believe that team would have handled it well."

 

[B-Deep]

this is the start of the article, i thought it was powerful:

It was a Friday evening in Fort Lauderdale, warm and clear, like so many that 12-year-old Michael Irvin had experienced growing up in southern Florida. He was riding in a car with his father, Walter, a roofer by trade who spent what little spare time he had operating as the local Primitive Baptist minister. The two were heading home after an errand that was a regular payday ritual: Walter would drive into town to buy cigars and then drop off money with Michael’s grandmother to help with her bills. It was the late 1970s, a time of strife in America, and young Michael had already seen a lot in his low-income neighborhood. But nothing prepared him for what happened next.

As Walter drove up Northwest 27th Avenue, about to turn onto 16th Street, his son noticed a man who looked just like his older brother, Vaughn, walking away from their house toward “all the craziness in the ’hood,” Irvin remembers. It couldn’t be Vaughn: “This man was wearing women’s clothes.” But it was. “My brother had a very distinctive walk,” he says.

Irvin couldn’t believe his eyes. He turned to his father. “My dad looked back at me and said, ‘Yes, that’s your brother. And you love your brother.’ ”

That was it. Irvin, who went on to become one of football’s greatest players, as well as the epitome of the troublemaking macho NFL stereotype, would never again discuss the issue with his father. “Whether Vaughn and my father later spoke about it, I don’t know. But it wasn’t something that was ever discussed among the family,” says Irvin, speaking for the first time about the gay older brother he idolized.

Walter Irvin’s message was simple: Michael was supposed to love his brother unconditionally, no matter what he looked like or who he was.

 

[sihaokills]

Good for him.

 

[Flying Elvis]

I don't believe an openly gay player on the Cowboys during that time would have been accepted. But that's kind of beside the point. This seems like an excellent opportunity for the gay community.

 

[B-Deep]

I don't believe an openly gay player on the Cowboys during that time would have been accepted. But that's kind of beside the point. This seems like an excellent opportunity for the gay community.

i think it would depend on the player, and i think that goes for most teamsHad Aikman come out and said he was gay, i think it would have been ok. If some #6 wr comes out, he's prolly an outcast.

 

[Flying Elvis]

I don't believe an openly gay player on the Cowboys during that time would have been accepted. But that's kind of beside the point. This seems like an excellent opportunity for the gay community.

i think it would depend on the player, and i think that goes for most teamsHad Aikman come out and said he was gay, i think it would have been ok. If some #6 wr comes out, he's prolly an outcast.

Probably true. Not that everyone would embrace Gaikman (sorry, couldn't resist) but there certainly would be far more support for him than a scrub on the roster.

 

[PewterFan]

NTTAWWT