Former Redskins Receiver Michael Westbrook Is Upset That People Think He's Gay

Michael Westbrook's football career is remembered for four things:

1. In college at Colorado, he caught Kordell Stewart's Hail Mary pass to beat Michigan in 1994.
2. He was a bust as the fourth pick in the 1995 draft.
3. His unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in a 1997 game against the Giants pushed the Redskins out of field goal range in overtime and likely cost them a playoff berth.
4. He mercilessly pummeled teammate Stephen Davis, punching him in the face repeatedly, during a 1997 training camp practice.

Westbrook tells Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com that the last one still bothers him -- not because he feels bad for beating up Davis, but because there were rumors that he beat up Davis because Davis called him gay, and some people interpreted that as evidence that Westbrook is, in fact, gay. Westbrook wants to clear the air on this one. He's not gay:

"So the connotation is Michael Westbrook is gay. ... My ex-girlfriend heard it about a year ago from this guy and she went nuts. Everybody that knows me knows that's the farthest thing from the truth. For about three years, I wanted to lock myself in the house and never come out.''

Think about that for a moment. Westbrook is so obsessed with making sure everyone knows he's heterosexual that the mere possibility that people might think otherwise made him want to lock himself in the house for three years, a la Tom Cruise in Trapped in the Closet. Of the millions of football fans who know who Westbrook is, the ones who care what his sexual orientation is have to be a tiny minority. It's sad that Westbrook worries what that tiny minority thinks. Maybe because he likes to lay boy pipe on the side???

We all know there are many undercover brothas in sports just like in Hip Hop. Until we can get over these pre-conceived notions about machismo and all this whoo-rah! butch male bullshit, the better off we'll be. Until then (and until someone comes out at the height of their career), I don't see homophobia changing in sports anytime soon.