These days, if a former NFL coach makes a vague statement about an openly gay sports player who was fawned over by the media, he can expect to be called a “homophobe” and “bigot” for not getting aboard the pro-gay train.

Dungy, former coach of the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and current NBC sports analyst, told The Tampa Tribune, “I wouldn’t have taken him [Michael 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.” 

Dungy elaborated, "It’s not going to be totally smooth...things will happen.” For this cautious statement, Dungy was attacked by the media as homophobic and discriminatory. 

On Monday's CNN Newsroom, ESPN senior writer L.Z. Granderson compared those who decried Michael Sam's kiss with his boyfriend after he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams to a racist organization that lynched minorities: "Yes, some of the objection is part of the storyline, but we didn't celebrate the KKK during...the March on Washington."

Anchor Carol Costello praised Sam's "courage," and lamented that Americans haven't gone far enough in their support of the homosexual agenda: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]

Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe wrote an inflammatory post for Deadspin.com headlined "I Was An NFL Player Until I Was Fired By Two Cowards And A Bigot." He claims he was released for his "gay rights activism," his wild rants and tweets against social conservatives. The “cowards” were Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier and GM Rick Spielman. The “bigot” was special-teams coach Mike Priefer, a man Kluwe wants banned from coaching for a "doctrine of intolerance."

Kluwe claimed Priefer once said  "We should round up all the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows.” USA Today’s Tom Pelissero reported that not only did Preiefer deny that, but Vikings kicker Blair Walsh also insisted the allegations were false.

Oh look, Mike Wise is making more pronouncements about history. History, as in sports history: records, achievements, seasons, etc.? He’s a Washington Post sportswriter, after all.

No silly. The Most Important Sports Columnist in the World, Ever, is again passing judgment on anyone lagging behind history’s inexorable march into the glorious progressive future. In other words, his knickers are in a twist because the Washington Redskins are still called the Washington Redskins, despite the howling of liberal journalists like Wise and a handful of Native American activists.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes a business decision is just a business decision. Like the Vikings cutting punter Chris Kluwe. Kluwe is an aging, expensive, mediocre performer, and the Vikings just drafted a new punter.

But to John Becker at the Huffington Post, there must be something darker at work. Kluwe is an outspoken gay marriage supporter. Becker is an “LGBT activist, writer and blogger.” And according to Becker, “word on the street is that the decision to drop Kluwe is at least partially due to his outspoken support for and advocacy on behalf of marriage equality.”