News: Robbie Rogers Retires, Also Maybe Comes Out?

You poor thing! How are you going to deal with "Thou shalt not lie?"

KIDDING! Nice post.

 

At the risk of running afoul of the mods by continuing down a perilous rabbit hole, I would point out that in that last major US election the candidate who supported gay marriage and the repeal of DADT and the DOMA, received some 70% of the Latino vote and over 90% of the Black vote. So its not clear to me the extent to which this homophobia exists among such groups and how intense it is if it does exist.

 

If he's done with soccer, I think he's more likely to sign with the Cosmos.

 

Well, as a straight Latino, I would totally do our black president.
How does that skew the polling?

POLING!
ALL PUNS INTENDED ALL THE TIME!!!

 

HEY-O! Hahahaha.

God the Cosmos (and CUSA) are just too easy.

 

By the way, some people have read his message to mean that he's taking a hiatus from the sport rather than outright retiring.

 

You're apparently missing the "was" vs the "is" distinction.

Completely agree.

How things "should" be is the tough ideal.

Life is oftentimes tougher than that, though. Things change.

 

Pleased to see Matt Kassel and Dax McCarty immediately voice their support as well. Also recently Charlie Davies, Stu Holden and Twellman, Benny, De la Garza, Agudelo...really cool. [not shameful or sinful]

 

Yup. "Stepping away" rather "Permanent Quits."

Let's hope so.

 

Kljestan too -- and quality Euro Journos Amy Lawrence and Phillipe Auclairre(sp?)

 

The vocal support from guys who have and are playing for the USNT makes me feel pretty good about the quality of these guys' character and even more proud to support them.

 

Yeah, based on twitter he has HUGE support among the US soccer playing community.

 

Where do you get your facts? And do you get them cheaper because they're defective?

 

Add Jay DeMerit to that list! Jay DeMerit ‏@D6MERIT
#Courage #Conviction #Truth #Respect ... Proud of you@robbierogers.

 

Leeds teammate Snodgrass, Drury, McCormack....

Da Bease, Demerit...

Meola....

 

I'm so happy to see the support for Robbie coming from the soccer PLAYING community. This is just awesome to see.

 

Yeah, but rarely does anyone not receive support or praise as/when they announce their retirement.

(Regardless of all the other/personal issues, if there are any that may come with that news.)

 

With so many players voicing support so quickly, gives one reason for naive optimism afterall. Maybe the lockerroom issues would not be insurmountable.

 

This is cool to see. I know this is me showing stereotypes, but I expected it far more from the American teammates than the Euro ones. Cool to see his boys "over there" are supporting him, too.

One thing is for certain - Robbie's Q rating is gonna be sky high after this.

 

In other countries perhaps. Maybe I'm being naive, but I could absolutely see him playing in MLS without any special difficulties. The US soccer crowd seems relatively progressive to me. For example, anyone that would heckle a player for their personal preferences (sexual or any other), would get shouted down in my section. Of that I have no doubt.

 

Proud of him, hopefully he continues playing in MLS! So many more out there.

 

Not at all to belittle Rogers' announcement and the support that has followed, one does wonder what the responses would be like had the announcement been that Rogers is coming out and he's signed with some specific professional team.

In an ideal scenario, the responses and support would be the same, but we only get to see the responses to this new reality.

Will indeed be interesting to see if his career and pro soccer do ever again intersect.

 

Or Chivas USA.

 

gay is leftist? I thought it was human. And your last statement is ridiculous.

 

Maybe.

But how much time does a player/person actually spend just in the locker room? They've still got to operate and live within the real world. (And yes, maybe that world is changing.)

There would (very likely) still (unfortunately) be issues beyond just those of his supporters/friends/teammates, were Rogers (or any openly gay man) opt for an active professional sports career.

At some point (and hopefully very soon), some athlete or MLS player or whomever would not find all the issues to be insurmountable for having/continuing their playing career -- but at this point, Robbie Rogers does not look to be that athlete.