David Tyree, the former NFL wide receiver who in 2011 said he would trade his Super Bowl ring to stop same-sex marriage, now says he would welcome any gay player on his team.Â
David Tyree made headlines this week when, after years of advocating against same-sex marriage, claiming he knew “former homosexuals,” and even saying he wouldn’t want his children to think gay people are normal, he was hired by the New York Giants as their new Director of Player Development.
Tyree starred in a video for the National Organization For Marriage to oppose same-sex marriage, he told news reporters that the legalization of same-sex marriage would lead to “anarchy,” and even sent nasty, ugly tweets against same-sex marriage and gay people, as The New Civil Rights Movement reported this week.
When the new of his new job came out this week, the LGBT community was furious.
HRC issued a scathing statement.
Michelangelo Signorile at the Huffington Post wrote, “The Stupidity of the New York Giants Hiring Anti-Gay David Tyree.”
But now, according to the gay director of “You Can Play,” Wade Davis, David Tyree has had a monumental change of heart — and chalks it up to his devotion to Christianity.
In a Sports Illustrated op-ed, Davis says Tyree told him,
“My interactions with Wade over the past few months are much more representative of my current beliefs toward the gay community than some tweets from several years ago. Christianity teaches us love, compassion, and respect for our fellow man, and it is in that light that I will continue to work with Wade and others to better serve the gay community. I would absolutely support any player on the Giants who identified as gay, in any way I could. And I will continue to stay in touch with Wade to ensure I am aware of the right ways to do that.â€
Tyree has now deleted his Twitter account.
Wade Davis told Outsports that Tyree says he would welcome Michael Sam on his team.
“He said he had no problem with Michael’s sexual orientation, and that his job is to make the players better, and that he needs to make sure he gets better, too, and that he needs to understand the damage of things that he’s done in the past.”
As for his views on “former homosexuals,” Tyree, according to Davis, “said he doesn’t think ‘anyone needs that kind of therapy.’ â€
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