Veteran NY sports reporter Jared Max revealed to his ESPN-1050 listeners yesterday that he was gay. Max is the third prominent person in the sports world to come out of the closet in recent weeks; while discussing whether fans would accept gay sports stars, he made his pronouncement: "I am gay. Yeah, Jared Max the sports guy with one of the most familiar voices in New York sports isn't quite like the majority."
He prefaced that by saying: "Are we ready to have our sports information delivered by someone who is gay? We're going to find out. Because for the last 16 years I've been living a free life among all my close friends and family. But I've been living behind what is a gargantuan size secret in the sports world."
Max, who had worked as a WCBS sports anchor for over a decade before switching to ESPN a few months ago, told listeners about coming out of the closet to his mom at the age of 21, and about his fears of fulfilling his dream, becoming a sportscaster. "Now, I'm taking this courageous jump into the unknown having no idea how I will be perceived," he said.
Earlier this month, Phoenix Suns CEO Rick Welts came out, as well as former Villanova college basketball player Will Sheridan. Sheridan told ESPN about his struggles coming out to teammates and friends, and why he felt it was so important
I'm trying to have a voice, and I want that voice to reach as many people as it can. I mean, look at me. I'm black. I'm gay. I'm like a quadruple minority, and I feel like a little piece of me resides in everybody. Maybe there's a kid out there who doesn't think he's OK, and he can look at me and say, 'OK, he played college basketball. He went overseas. He has a music career and now he's living his life. Now he's who he wants to be and he's happy and confident and comfortable.' It's my responsibility to talk about that.
Earlier this spring, Lakers star Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 by the NBA after he was caught on camera mouthing an obscene homophobic slur at a referee, which sparked a debate about homophobia in the NBA. But at least one outspoken former NBA star couldn't care less if you're straight, gay or martian, as long as you can play: "First of all, every player has played with gay guys...It bothers me when I hear these reporters and jocks get on TV and say: 'Oh, no guy can come out in a team sport. These guys would go crazy.' First of all, quit telling me what I think. I'd rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can't play," Charles Barkley said on the radio the other day.
