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| Animals quarterback Jay Cutler announced over the weekend he's a "straighty." |
By Ariel Mutha-Tafoya
FSN Sports
Following Jay Cutler’s surprise announcement over the weekend, the New England sports world — to say nothing of the affected team — is abuzz about the implications of having an openly heterosexual player in the Cambridge Animals locker room.
Cutler becomes the first Cambridge player ever to publicly declare his heterosexuality.
“Deep down, I think most of my teammates knew,” Cutler said in a press conference. “It’s just the little things sometimes — like when I’d drop the soap in the shower, I wouldn’t pick it up. I’d go out and get a new bar of soap instead. But after a while it felt like I was living a lie, and I just need to be honest about who I am. I don’t think I’m the only ‘straighty’ on this team, and I can guarantee you DTA (Cambridge owner Dave the Animal) doesn’t think that, either.”
“We’re still processing this,” said Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan on FSN’s SportsNight. “I mean, we all knew the probability that a closeted heterosexual had been on the Animals at some point. But for someone on this particular team to have the courage to come out, that’s huge.”
The announcement was all the more notable, media analysts agreed, considering the blistering heterophobic slurs by DTA captured on video during a post-game rant and released to the media last month.
Cutler’s announcement appeared to raise as many questions as it settled. For example, some team officials wondered aloud whether female sports reporters could have access to the Animals’ locker room with a known heterosexual present.
Others speculated about the implications for DTA’s vaunted reputation for developing quarterbacks. “Would DTA have devoted so much effort to Cutler had he known he was straight?” reflected a member of the team who, for obvious reasons, asked that his name not be used. “And are guys going to be comfortable with someone who might look at us in the shower and not be attracted? These are some serious questions.”
The day after Cutler’s announcement, a group of Animals’ fans had already launched a new website, DumpCutler.com, which had received more than 3,000 “likes” on Facebook.
“We respect the lifestyle choices of our players, even if those choices don’t reflect the norms of our city and fans,” said the Animals in written statement released to the media. “We’re more concerned with what happens on the field.”
“The Animals have always stood behind their players,” said an official in the Bakers organization, who also requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak. “I guess now we’ll find out if that’s just because they’re gay.”
