What would it take for a player in any of the four major sports to be out?

When I read stories like this one , I can't imagine an environment within any of the four major professional sports where a player could be openly gay.

Former Florida State quarterback Chris Rix went on a radio show and suggested that fellow Seminole teammate Darnell Dockett is gay. Dockett, a defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals, went off on Rix on Twitter, promising “im whooping yo ass.”

Although there have been several  recent  stories  about the growing support for the LGBT community from professional athletes,  it's always countered with the same bigotry and misogyny that's woven into the fabric of professional sports, not only from the athletes, but the fans as well. (Cardinals fans -- and I consider myself one of you -- you should be ashamed of yourselves.)

Toure interviewed  out retired cornerback, Wade Davis, about the possibility of an openly gay NFL star, and its community of semi-closeted/semi-open players (which is great, though lengthy piece), but it's a hell of a compromise.

It's no secret that the sports world lags far behind in its acceptance of gays and lesbians, at least compared to Hollywood, or the music industry, although there was a time, not that long ago, when an openly gay actor on a prime time television show (or a cable news show) would have been seen as revolutionary.