{"id":8176,"date":"2022-04-08T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/?p=8176"},"modified":"2022-04-07T09:29:42","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T14:29:42","slug":"examining-media-framing-of-openly-gay-nfl-player-carl-nassib","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/examining-media-framing-of-openly-gay-nfl-player-carl-nassib\/","title":{"rendered":"Examining Media Framing of Openly gay NFL Player Carl Nassib"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Authors: <\/strong>Edward M. Kian, Ph.D.
School of Media & Strategic Communications, Oklahoma State University, OK, USA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corresponding Author:
<\/strong>Edward M. Kian, Ph.D.
School of Media & Strategic Communications
Oklahoma State University
201 Paul Miller Building
Stillwater, OK 74078
edward.kian@okstate.edu
407-927-5403<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Edward (Ted) M. Kian, Ph.D. is a full professor of Sports Media in the School of Media & Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Kian\u2019s research focuses on sport media, specifically examining portrayals of gender and LGBT in content, new media, attitudes and experiences of sport media members, and sport marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examining Media Framing of Openly gay NFL Player Carl Nassib<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ABSTRACT<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This researched examined mainstream media framing of Carl Nassib becoming the first active, established NFL player to come out as gay. Purpose: Media have historically framed the NFL as a rugged, masculine sport, but media have also been supportive of the few former professional athletes who came out as gay or bisexual. This study examined how media framed an active gay athlete in what is construed as the United States\u2019 most masculine sport. Methods: A textual analysis was conducted to examine media framing of Nassib and his coming out in articles published in the five most popular sport-focused U.S. websites over a two-week period following his announcement. Theories on masculinity were used to guide the study. Results: Four primary themes emerged from the data, most of which showed media were very supportive of Nassib publicly coming out and hailed it as a watershed moment in American sport. Conclusions: Media were supportive of an openly gay player and contended football was ready for this announcement. Applications in Sport: Media will be supportive of the vast majority of openly gay athletes who use sport as a platform to reveal their sexual orientation, and thus coaches and sport organizations should not fear players coming out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Keywords: <\/strong>LGBT, Gay athletes, Media framing, American football, Hegemonic masculinity, Inclusive masculinity, Online media<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTRODUCTION<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to publicly come out as gay (15). An openly gay athlete in the NFL would have been unthinkable to many until recently because hegemonic masculinity has historically flourished in men\u2019s team sports with open homosexuality almost non-existent, especially in sports socially framed as more masculine in nature (22). In the United States, the NFL is by far the most popular and powerful sport league, and American football has long been socially construed as the most masculine participation sport for U.S. boys to play (28).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basketball player Jason Collins became the first openly gay athlete to participate in a regular-season game in 2014 in one of the four most popular American professional team sport leagues: MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL. No active NFL player had previously revealed their homosexuality before Nassib, and all former NFL players who came out publicly as gay did so well after their careers were over (15). Former University of Missouri football star Michael Sam came out before the 2014 NFL Draft in which he was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the seventh and final round, but Sam never made a regular-season NFL roster and thus never played in an official game. In addition, citing depression and mental-health issues, Sam chose to forego his fledging career in the Canadian Football League which may have deterred other openly gay football players from coming out publicly (30). Nassib completed five full seasons as a regular NFL player before coming out with the Raiders who signed him to a three-year contract worth $25 million before the 2020 season (15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nassib, in contrast to those athletes who came out years before, went public at a time of great societal acceptance of gays and lesbians in the United States. Whereas the Supreme Court allowed for legal gay marriage in all 50 states in 2015, it was not until 2021 that 70% of Americans approved of gay marriage in Gallup polling, including for the first time a majority (i.e., 56%) of registered republican party voters (20). The sports world has also become more accepting of gays and lesbians. A survey of more than 800 gay high school and college male-team sport athletes showed that 72% of respondents who came out publicly reported wide acceptance from their teammates and coaches (5). However, the culture inside football locker room may still be less welcoming for gay men than other sports. A recent study (4) found that roughly one-third of respondents from a major college football team had negative attitudes toward gay men, with the more religious players less supportive of homosexuality. Accordingly it is unclear if mainstream media will positively frame an openly gay, active NFL player, because sport media plays a primary role in the rugged, idealized form of masculinity historically framed in coverage of professional football players in the United States (3, 31).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gay and Bisexual Athletes in Men\u2019s Team sports<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. professional men\u2019s team sports emerged in the late 19th<\/sup> Century and became a key part of American culture after World War II (28). However, no former player from any of the four most popular men\u2019s professional U.S. team sports publicly came out as gay or even bisexual until former NFL fullback Dave Kopay did so in 1975 (13). Kopay, who played for five different NFL franchises from 1964-1972, was one of just eight former NFL players who had come out publicly or had their sexual orientation publicized as gay and\/or bisexual before Nassib\u2019s recent public revelation. The other six and their NFL career spans were Ray McDonald (1967-68), Jerry Smith (1965-77), Roy Simmons (1979-83), Esera Tuaolo (1991-99), Kwame Harris (2003-08), Ryan O\u2019Callaghan (2006-11), and Ryan Russell (2015-17), and all waited to come out publicly at least four years after their playing careers (6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NFL is not alone in its near complete lack of open homosexuality. In fact, the NFL has had more current or former players come out as gay or bisexual than the other three most popular U.S. men\u2019s professional team sports combined. Despite the NBA\u2019s reputation as a socially progressive and gay-friendly major sports organization, John Amaechi is the only former NBA player besides Collins to come out of the closet and his 2007 announcement was met by vitriol by several former players, including former superstar point guard Tim Hardaway who was quoted following Amaechi\u2019s announcement as having said, \u201cI hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don\u2019t like gay people, and I don\u2019t like to be around gay people. I\u2019m homophobic\u201d (17, p. 803). No current or former NHL player has ever come out as gay or bisexual. Billy Bean and Glen Burke are the only two former MLB players to come out as gay (10). Both played for a Dodgers organization housed in gay-friendly Los Angeles. Individual professional men\u2019s sports have also had few openly gay athletes. The most successful and recognizable openly gay U.S. male athletes (e.g., diver Greg Louganis) competed in individual sports that media have historically construed as more appropriate for women (23). That may be due to the permeation of hegemonic masculinity throughout men\u2019s sports at all levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegemonic Masculinity vs. Inclusive Masculinity in Sport<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rise of organized youth team sports in the late 19th<\/sup> Century was largely in response to fears that men would become soft as the United States changed from an agrarian to industrial society (28). Since then, and from early childhood, most American boys and men have been socialized into sport, where they learn the most desirable forms of masculinity and often carry those lessons into adulthood (23). Hegemonic masculinity values men and boys who exhibit the most desired masculine traits such as aggressiveness, assertiveness, and physical dominance (8). Near the bottom of the hegemonic masculine social hierarchy are openly gay men, who by their mere sexual preference challenge traditional notions of masculinity, which is why gay men have often steered away from organized team sports (1). Messner surmised, \u201c<\/em>The extent of homophobia in the sport world is staggering. Boys (in sport) learn early that to be gay, to be suspected of being gay, or even to be unable to prove one\u2019s heterosexual status is not acceptable\u201d (22, p. 34).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, more recent research has demonstrated that athletes, sport coaches and leagues, and even sports fans have increasingly become more accepting of gays and lesbians (5, 11). Anderson\u2019s \u2018inclusive masculinities\u2019 theory suggests that homosexuality and non-traditional masculine identities are increasingly more accepted throughout Western societies (2). The most mainstream media, however, still frame men\u2019s sports and particularly men\u2019s team sports through a masculine lens that is unwelcoming to narratives that counter that hegemony (19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media Framing of Gay Male Athletes<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalists, communications specialists, and media managers decide what events and people are worthy of receiving coverage. These media professionals then determine which facts, sources, and quotes to include in content. This subjective and influential process is commonly referred to as media framing by scholars (14). Media framing greatly impacts media consumers\u2019 comprehension and opinions on issues (14, 35). A steady stream of scholars over the past half-century found sport media reinforced hegemonic masculinity through focusing the vast majority of content on men\u2019s team sports, through the sexualization of female athletes, and regularly comparing women\u2019s accomplishments to men, and through ignoring women and men who participate in sports that are deemed socially unacceptable for their sex, such as male figure skaters and female weightlifters (34, 36).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only a few scholarly articles examined media framing of openly gay male athletes, probably because so few gay male athletes have come out publicly. A pair of articles examined media framing of Amaechi\u2019s coming out as a former NBA player. Both (15, 16) found that media framed Amaechi\u2019s announcement as a positive for society and sport, but concluded that locker rooms were not ready for an openly gay athlete. One study (18) found U.S. newspapers and websites framed Jason Collins as a hero after he came out as openly gay. A pair of studies examined and compared media framing of Collins\u2019 and Michael Sam\u2019s coming out, which both occurred within a calendar year of each other. One examination (7) found that newspapers covered both announcements extensively, while the other found media placed greater importance on Sam\u2019s coming out as an NFL draft prospect (25). The authors concluded that although both announcements were celebrated in mainstream media content, homophobic coded language was used to compare gay athletes with heterosexual athletes (25). A study on British media found they largely praised diver Tom Daley for coming out, but continuously labeled him as gay even though Daley actually came out as a bisexual who said he was also attracted to women (21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n