NBA vet Jason Collins wins praise for coming out from Canadian athletes

NBA veteran Jason Collins received support from Canada Monday as he became the first active male player in the four major North American professional sports to come out as gay.

“Happy for my former teammate Jason Colllins. A true American. ‘home of the free because of the brave’,” tweeted Toronto Raptors forward Rudy Gay.

“NBA player Jason Collins comes out as openly gay, Good for him Athletes are more open and forward thinking than we get credit for #hischoice,” offered veteran CFL receiver Geroy Simon.

Toronto Maple Leafs winger Joffrey Lupul agreed it was a big day for sports.

“Obviously we knew this day was going to happen when an athlete came out of the closet,” he said.

“It takes a lot of courage by him and, hopefully, it leads to more people being able to be comfortable with that.”

The NHL has taken the lead in advocating for more openness.

Patrick Burke, a Philadelphia Flyers scout and the son of former Leafs general manager Brian Burke, is one of the founders of the You Can Play movement dedicated to fighting homophobia in sports.

“Obviously Patrick Burke has done a lot of great work here over the last couple of years,” said current leafs GM Dave Nonis.

“I think the fruits of his work are just starting to come forward and I would expect to hear more and more of that as time moves along.”

It wasn’t just athletes who praised Collins, 34, who has played for six teams in 12 seasons.

“Big props to @jasoncollins34 for coming out as 1st gay player in big 4 sports. Takes real #courage to lead change,” tweeted CBC television host George Stroumboulopoulos.

Collins wrote a first-person account that was posted on Sports Illustrated’s website Monday.

He finished the NBA season with the Washington Wizards and is now a free agent but says he wants to keep playing.

Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said he both was and wasn’t surprised.

For one thing, he said if estimates are that perhaps 10 per cent of the general population is gay, he sees no reason to suspect that wouldn’t hold true in the sports world.

“It doesn’t surprise me that there is a player that would do it (come forward), you knew it was going to happen sometime, but I guess it is surprising that it happens today,” he said.

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