I want to take a break from writing the same old analytical blog piece where I type from my armchair and criticize about teams and players in sports, and try to hit on something real. It is not my intention to drum up controversy, but why have a blog if you are not going to talk about something that may cause a person to disagree with you? You can’t please everyone. After all, I started this blog so that we can engage in constructive sports dialog. I also had a feeling that sometime sooner or later, a little politics would rear its ugly head into one of my entries; but since that is the field I chose to pursue with my career, it was bound to happen. I want to preface by saying that the topic I’m about to talk about is considered sensitive in nature and somewhat taboo, but I’m completely comfortable and confident talking about this topic and wanted to write about my opinion on this matter. So here I go, and if you disagree and feel that I am hitting a subject that shouldn’t be discussed, well then I apologize.
I have decided to write this entry about former Villanova basketball player Will Sheridan. Who is Will Sheridan? Will Sheridan was a 4-star basketball recruit out of Delaware; a power forward, standing 6’8”, 240 lbs, and according to Rivals, had good handles, passing, and strength. He had offers to go play basketball at national powerhouse schools like Michigan, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Tennessee, and Villanova; Villanova being his school of choice. So why I’m I writing about him and his story? This week, Will Sheridan came out and announced that he is gay. And while he is not the first former professional or collegiate athlete to announce that he is gay, what I find most interesting and intriguing about his story is, after listen to him being interviewed by Jim Rome, that he confronted and told his teammates about his sexual orientation while playing basketball with them for Villanova University.
Other former athletes who have came out in the past have done so several years after their professional or collegiate careers have ended, and have always maintained that while they were playing, they never revealed their secret to any teammate or coach. Whether it was out of fear of ridicule and embarrassment from teammates, becoming an outcast in the locker room, or jeopardizing their career, they went through great lengths and took all measures possible and available to hide their secret. Will Sheridan on the other hand, took a different approach.
Sheridan played basketball for Villanova University, a small school located in Philadelphia. He, along with another 4-star recruit, point guard Michael Nardi, would make up Villanova’s recruiting class for the 2003 season. Both coming to Villanova as freshmen, they would end up becoming roommates and eventually good friends. They shared computers, went to class and basketball practice together, and hung out around campus together with other teammates. One day, after sizing up Nardi’s character and personality, Sheridan felt comfortable and secure enough with himself and his relationship with Nardi to tell his roommate and fellow teammate that he was gay. Not knowing how Nardi would take the news, Sheridan was a bit surprise when Nardi told him “we’re good.” Next day, life went on, friends were friends, teammates were teammates. But uncertainty still remained. Would Nardi spill his secret and rat him out to his teammates and coaches? I mean, Sheridan was a big time recruit and a fixture on campus. How would his teammates and fellow students handle the news if let out? It was something that Sheridan would just have to deal with. But instead, something completely unexpected happened.
Sheridan can’t say for sure whether Nardi told their teammates of his secret, and he may have, but it never got back to Sheridan that he did (to this day, Nardi and Sheridan are still best friends). When Sheridan confronted his teammates about his sexual orientation, some of the guys told him that they already knew or already heard, but thanked him and respected and appreciated the fact that Sheridan confronted them about it. Life did go on, and went on well. Sheridan would soon realize that his teammates didn't care and instead were so focus (with basketball and winning) that it didn't matter whether he (Sheridan) was gay or not. He was a contributing basketball player on a Sweet Sixteen, national championship caliber team. Sheridan's sexual orientation becoming known to his teammates didn't change the team dynamic, locker room chemistry, or throw the world off it's axis. I started thinking (I know, not always a good thing), but what if I were on that Villanova team, how would I handle it? How would I embrace Sheridan? I kept asking myself that throughout the interview and I kept coming to the same conclusion. Can he shoot? Yes. Can he rebound? Yes. Can he play defense? Yes. Then I can play with Will Sheridan.
I'm a strong advocate for equality and equal rights. No one should be excluded and discriminated against for something that is beyond their control. But sports, and in particular athletes, are made from a different creed and mind set. You often times hear athletes talk about the sanctity of the locker room and the bond a team shares together. Athletes are almost sheltered creatures, forced to eat, drink, and live the sport they play. It’s what they’ve known their whole life. So when someone goes against the creed and is seen as not being one of them, in this case not living the same lifestyle, it can really shake up their world. It is because of this that makes me more impressed and proud of the Villanova players and coach who played and shared in this experience with Sheridan. It takes a special group of young men, coaches, and leaders to be able to take in the news that Sheridan confronted them with, embrace him as a teammate, respect him enough to keep his secret a secret, and move forward together, still being focused on their ultimate goals. Sheridan described his experience about coming out to his teammates as being position and contributes it to being surrounded by a great group of teammates and coaches, who were just as focused as he was about two thing: winning and playing basketball. All that matter to them was, can he shoot? Can he rebound? Can he play defense? And most importantly, can we win with him? If the answer is yes, then nothing else should matter. Now 26 years old, Sheridan is a graduate, writing, singing, and producing music, and as he says “I’m on facebook, I’m on Twitter. I’m out there and I’m a real person.”
When asked about gay athletes in sports and the possibility playing with them, Charles Barkley said, "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." Very elementary sounding, but perfectly said.
Mr. Armchair Speaking
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