American football and homosexuality haven't historically gone hand in hand. In my grade school, a football-based game called "Smear the Queer" was popular among boys on the playground. As a former player who lived in a conservative religious town, my ignorance back during my playing days was an accurate reflection of the overall perception of gay males athletes.I was consumed by the hyper-masculinity that still pervades football, as were other young male athletes. "American football is a metaphor for war and American world dominance," Sara Crawley, associate professor of sociology, said in her exploration of masculinity in football. She asserted that the heteronormative sport is deeply intertwined with sexuality, and the iconic status of male athlete "heroes" implies that they take whatever they want—which, Crawley specified, are "beautiful female bodies." So what happens when a football player doesn't fit this caveman image?In my mind then (ten years ago), gay men didn't make sense in my favorite sport because of what Crawley observed: They didn't fit into what I perceived as the culture of being a tough-minded competitor. At that point, not one professional football player had ever come out. There were no conversations being had about homosexuality in sports.Continue reading on Tonic.