Hall of Fame Cowboys football player Michael Irvin comes out in favor of equality.

[aaaaaa5a]

For those of you who don't follow NFL football, Michael Irvin is a Hall of Fame Wide Receiver who played for the Dallas Cowboys. He won a National Championship at the University of Miami and is a 3 time Super Bowl Champion in the NFL. He is regarded as one of the greatest football players in the history of the sport.

Michael Irvin has given an interview to OUT magazine in support of equality.

The title of the article is, "NFL Hall of famer Michael Irvin talks for the first time about his gay brother and explains why he’s on a pro-gay mission from God.
By Cyd Zeigler"











In the magazine article he highlights the struggle and difficulties his brother had because he was gay.


Here are some excerpts:



Irvin publicly acknowledges that his 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 sometime in the 1970s when he found him wearing women's clothing. He was rattled by the experience and has since figured out that it contributed to his own womanizing behavior.

"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.

SNIP----------------------------------


The 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.


Link
http://www.out.com/slideshows/index.asp?slideshow_title=Michael-Irvin-The-Playmaker-Preaches&theID=1

[villager]

1. My God! This 49er fan has just found a Cowboy worthy of respect!

:thumbsup:

[KamaAina]

6. Maybe these really are the End Times

:wow:

[villager]

7. Well, it would be End Times if it was Staubach on the "Out" cover!

;-)

[aaaaaa5a]

8. Nobody loves the GOP like Staubach.

Anyway...


Terry Bradshaw was better than him in every head to head game that mattered.

[dionysus]

2. wow.. he went from a coke addled criminal douche to a good human being.

good for irvin!

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. lol n/t

[ej510]

3. You will find that a lot more athletes than you think are pro gay marriage.

[Ishoutandscream2]

5. Good job, Michael

DU heads explode! And of course, not many will reply to this. Their intense hatred and jealousy won't let them.

But they will reply to my post, LOL!!

[taterguy]

10. Anyone whose head explodes over sports doesn't have much of a head in the first place

Class move by Irvin.

I hope he starts a trend.

[kick-ass-bob]

9. Awesome. If I had to pigeon hole someone as exact opposite of this,

it might have been him, so I'm sure others would have as well.

Good job Michael, this is worthy of admiration.


-- Something I never had for him in his playing days ;)