I should say ex-NFL punter, he was cut last year and blamed it on his outspoken support for gay marriage.

WASHINGTON — On Saturday night, a handful of athletes and others in the professional sports world gathered in Los Angeles for a party to celebrate the coming out of Michael Sam, the University of Missouri defensive end and NFL draft prospect who publicly announced he was gay Sunday. One of the few individuals who knew about Sam’s plans and attended the party was former NFL punter Chris Kluwe, who has been one of the most outspoken advocates for LGBT equality in sports.

“It was fun,” Kluwe told The Huffington Post Monday about the gathering. “I tried to tell Michael about basically what he’s going to be facing in the NFL, what the locker room is going to be like. … Essentially just try and stay as relaxed as possible, and trust in the fact that you can play football well, you can play at a very high level — that’s why you’ve gotten to this point — so block out the other stuff as much as you can and keep doing what you know how to do.” […]

Kluwe objected to the unnamed coach saying an openly gay player would be a “distraction,” noting that teams always have to deal with players’ personal issues, ranging from their dating lives to their problems with the law.

“One thing I thought was really interesting was the very word ‘distraction,'” said Kluwe. “You see that used a lot by the front office and coaching. It’s very similar to how the word ‘thug’ was used when Richard Sherman was the topic of conversation. It seems that this word distraction is code for, I don’t really like the idea of a gay player on my team, but I know I can’t come out and say that, so I’ll use the word ‘distraction’ instead.”