Handicapping The Race for the First Openly Gay Sports Star.

Moses Fleetwood Walker isn’t a household name.

Outside of trivia buffs and the nichest of sports historians, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who could say what he contributed to the game, let alone what sport he played.

But say the name Jackie Robinson. Big difference.

The reason we mention Moses Fleetwood Walker is that he’s one of several players with a legitimate claim to being the first black player in Major League history.

Moses only lasted for one season in the Majors, before a combination of racism, injuries and death threats forced him out. Without going into the full, fascinating story of Moses (Zach Helfand does a great job of that already), we bring up Moses because he has a modern contemporary in Jason Collins.

Collins — a former NBA player — has the unique distinction of being the first openly gay athlete to play in the Big 4 after coming out.

While Collins’ action was courageous and he’s undeniably a trailblazer, Collins was at the tail-end of a so-so career when he made his announcement. While he played for the Nets squad that made a Finals appearance in 2003, he spent five mostly mediocre years in Jersey averaging 3.2 points a game. After leaving the Nets, he bounced around the league, never again averaging more than 2 points a game. After coming out in April 2013, Collins only played 22 more games before retiring in 2014.

In the end, gay athletes across North America will eventually be better off for what Collins did, as it set the stage for players just like him to overcome a hurdle that will one day hopefully not be a hurdle at all in professional sports. But, until that day comes, one other milestone is still to come — an openly gay superstar.

This is the type of player that’s in the limelight not just for their sexual orientation, but because they’re legitimately a star that demands the attention of an adoring public. They’ll make their orientation known while they still have mileage on their career, and truly leave a legacy that will make it much easier for future players to follow.

So on the eve of hopefully the first openly gay superstar, we’re taking stock of the Big 4, to handicap which is the likeliest to make the first breakthrough. By examining the environments, history of the sport, and support put in play, we’ll take a stab at guessing where this group’s Jackie Robinson will end up.

4) THE NFL

‘So do you like men’ was the way Falcons coach Maquand Manuel decided to kick-off his pre-draft interview with Eli Apple. For those keeping score at home, that was a bad move.

Sure, the coach and league said all the right things afterwards. But it makes you wonder. If that question came so easily to Manuel, how many other prospective draftees have been asked the exact same thing?

Even before this exchange took place, the NFL wasn’t exactly known as America’s bastion of progressiveness anyway. Between locker room hazings, dog-fighting, murder, and the draconian penalties for weed compared to the slap on the wrist for domestic abuse, the NFL is firmly entrenched in its early 19th Century mindset.

That’s not to say that there aren’t players, coaches, and league executives that would welcome an openly gay star with open arms. But the NFL hasn’t exactly made such a move easy.

3) THE NHL:

Of the four leagues, the NHL is surprisingly the only one that has never had a player (past or present) come out.

That fact is especially surprising considering the work done by the Burke family and the ‘You Can Play’ foundation to provide resources for LGBT members in hockey.

But despite those efforts, and the claim by Bettman that the league is ready to support their players (see, he’s not always doing/saying/acting in shitty ways), incidents like the Andrew Shaw playoff slur isn’t exactly creating the impression of a welcoming environment.

The league and external organizations can make nice all they want, but the real action needs to come from the players. Captain Toews’ reaction to his teammates suspension captures the problem perfect, and Toews said ‘We stand behind him and who he is as a person.’ It’s great to stand behind your teammate, and who he is and all, but you also need to stand behind any potential teammates, competitors, fans, and kids looking up to you that it might have impacted. For a superstar to emerge, it’ll probably take other superstars to take ownership.

2) MLB:

For a game that’s widely considered to be dominated by ‘traditionalist’ thinking, baseball can be surprisingly progressive.

The league has worked harder than most to create internal support mechanisms for future out players, spearheaded by Billy Bean, one of the first openly-gay ballplayers ever. Outside the league’s efforts, players have already weighed in, with guys like the Weaver brothers saying that orientation won’t matter to them, as long as a guy can hit or pitch.

Hell, even openly asinine /majorly bigoted former player Curt Schilling said he played with gay players, and it made no difference to him. And if a sport’s fostered an environment that’s convinced Curt Schilling to put aside his fucktard ways and be open-minded, then they’re definitely on their way to welcoming a superstar.

1) THE NBA:

The NBA and chief progressive commissioner Adam Silver told back-water America that the NBA won’t tolerate its Old Testament worldview, as it moved the All-Star game out of Charlotte after the state refused to change its discriminatory bathroom law.

This was only a few short weeks after Adam Silver led a delegation that walked in the NYC Pride Parade, becoming the first commissioner to do so.

Oh and there was that time he suspended Rondo for a game for using a gay slur against a ref, and only decided to not suspend him longer because he feared outing the ref, and was trying to protect him.

Outside of Silver’s work, Collins is the second crucial factor. Players across the league have already been asked to respond to a gay teammate/competitor when Collins came out, and an overwhelming majority had nothing but support and love to send Collins’ way (outside of Larry Johnson, who only had terrible/terribly written things to say).

And while a player can tweet one thing and say something else in the locker room, NBA players have had a few years to adjust to the idea, which can only create a more favourable environment. That, mixed with the fact that a superstar in the NBA is a rare commodity that teams would kill over, make the NBA the likeliest place for the first superstar to emerge.