Jason Collins has a big issue with Tony Dungy.
The question is whether Collins' assessment of Dungy is fair.
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USA TODAY Sports reported on a study of gay athletes in a homophobia study, and Collins, the first openly gay athlete to play in one of the four major U.S. sports, was one of the sources interviewed for the article.
In it, Collins, who earned the first-openly-gay distinction when he signed to play with the Brooklyn Nets during the 2013-14 season, talked about his ire over comments that Dungy said in regards to 2014 draft prospect and openly gay Missouri defensive end Michael Sam.
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The former coach of the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dungy told the Tampa Tribune he would not have drafted Sam, "Not because I don't believe Michael Sam should have a chance to play, but I wouldn't want to deal with all of it."
Collins' response to Dungy's comment was beyond critical.
"If you were to ask Tony Dungy if he feels like homophobia is in his level of thinking or if he's homophobic, he'd say no," Collins told USA TODAY Sports. "Well, if you were to ask Donald Sterling if he sees how his comments are racist, he said no, too. Some people don't recognize their own racism, homophobia. His awareness, and people like him, are the problem."
USA TODAY Sports reached out to Dungy, who declined comment on Collins' remarks.
Collins explained his rationale for disproving Dungy's assessment of the distraction drafting Sam.
When Collins joined the Nets, "there was this myth that I'd be a distraction," but that "after two weeks, it was back to business as usual. There are only so many times you can write the story about the gay teammate."
To be fair to Dungy, when the St. Louis Rams drafted Sam, the Oprah Winfrey Network planned to chronicle his journey as a gay draftee trying to make an NFL roster. It ended up being scrapped when the Rams rejected the notion. The Rams' rejection itself did not stir protests.
Both the Rams and the Dallas Cowboys, who subsequently signed Sam to their practice squad, ended up releasing Sam.
Many believe that Sam's sexual orientation remains the reason he is not in the NFL.
"I believe that Michael Sam is not on an NFL team because he is gay," Mitch Eby, a former defensive end at California's Chapman University, who became college football's first active openly gay player last March, told USA TODAY.
So the situation with Sam, who was just starting his NFL career, may have been different than that of Collins, who was finishing his NBA career.
Should Collins have equated Dungy with accused racist Sterling, the former Los Angeles Clippers owner who was banned from the NBA over a recorded racist rant?
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