Eagles Cornerback Troy Vincent: “I Played With 6 Openly Gay Players”

In a press conference this week former Eagles cornerback Troy Vincent revealed that, during his 15-year career, he played with six players who were openly gay in the locker room. The topic arose when Vincent, now the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, was asked about Michael Sam, who is in line to become the league’s first openly gay player:

I think what has changed over the years is now that it has become public, Vincent told USA Today. In my 15 years in the NFL, I played with six openly gay players in the locker room. It’s a workplace and it’s up to those individuals to disclose their sexual orientation.

We’ve been working alongside Michael’s team, as a prospect and just preparing him for what life is like as an NFL player … It’s nothing new for the players inside the locker room, but I think the player addressing that publicly is something we’re working on.

He was further probed about whether or not the gay teammates were accepted in the locker room:

Yes, it worked … We won many football games. They were players. We didn’t see them as anything different. We were in the locker room together, we traveled together, they were roommates on the road together. We just looked at them as players. We didn’t treat them any different and I don’t think the players now look at them any differently.”

Vincent played for the Eagles from 1996-2003. You can read the rest of USA Today‘s piece here.