Outsports' red carpet interviews: Rob Gronkowski and Cedrick Ceballos

Outsports' Cyd Zeigler Jr went to the ESPY's, the awards of cable sports network ESPN, where he did some great interviews. Here are snippets of two of them:

American football player Rob Gronkowski
I was taken aback a bit when Gronkowski stepped away from me upon hearing I was “with Outsports, we call it ESPN for homos.” The man who had quickly become one of my favorite athletes on my favorite team was about to be the first pro athlete to refuse an interview with me about gay issues in the NFL.

[...]

“How would you feel if one of your teammates on the Patriots came out of the closet this season?”

This time he didn’t pause.

“If that’s how they are, that’s how they are,” Gronkowski said. “I mean, we’re teammates so, as long as he’s being a good teammate and being respectful and everything, that’s cool.”

And with that, Gronkowski added his name to the growing list of professional athletes who would welcome a gay teammate. Because of the way we treat celebrities in our culture, it nearly didn’t happen. As a fan of the player and his team, I was proud he got past his fears of the potential backlash and gave me a minute of his time.


And...

Former professional basketball player Cedric Ceballos
Former NBA All-Star Cedric Ceballos told Outsports he played with a gay teammate in college and looks forward to a day when homophobia is in our distant past. We caught up with Ceballos at the ESPY Awards on July 11, where the former Cal State Fullerton star told us about his gay former teammate and roommate.

There's lot more of each interview, so make sure you read them in full!

14 January 2012 / Team DC Night Out at the Wizards basketball game

Night OUT at the Wizards vs. the Philadelphia 76ers
January 14, 2012, 7PM Verizon Center

Tickets are only $20 and available at Nellie's Sports Bar or HERE.

NBA adds sexual orientation discrimination protection to new contract

A press release from the (US) National Basketball Association (via RealGM.com and Outsports:

The NBA Board of Governors has ratified a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement, enabling training camps and the free agency period for the 2011-12 season to begin on Fri., Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. ET. As previously announced, the NBA will begin its 66th season on Christmas Day.

“I am pleased to announce that we have concluded the collective bargaining process and have reached an agreement that addresses many significant issues that were challenges to our league,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern. “This collective bargaining agreement will help us move toward a better business model, a more competitive league and better alignment between compensation and performance.”

[...]

- The NBA’s drug testing program has been strengthened to include up to two offseason tests for performance-enhancing drugs per year, increased penalties for performance-enhancing drugs and blood testing for HGH once the test is validated by a neutral panel of scientific experts.

- Veteran NBA players can be assigned to their team’s NBA D-League affiliate for rehabilitation assignments with the players’ consent. Beginning in 2012-13, players in their first three seasons in the NBA may be assigned to the D-League an unlimited number of times each year.

- The NBA and NBPA will create a committee to discuss issues related to the NBA Draft and NBA D-League, including Draft eligibility rules and rules related to the assignment of NBA players to the D-League.

- Non-discrimination language was added into the agreement that protects players from discrimination, including based on sexual orientation.

- Term of the contract is 10 years, with both the NBA and NBPA holding the ability to opt out after the sixth year.