The Curious Case of The Unemployed Kerry Rhodes

Remember when Roger Goodell said players and teams in the NFL would not only "tolerate" an openly gay player, but that player would be "accepted."

Well, I do.

So does the internet, which never forgets and is open 24/7/365.

And that's perhaps, true. But it sure does seem that a semi-not-quite-ready-to-be-openly-gay player just won't be "employed" by this wonderfully tolerant and accepting league.

See the case of former Cardinals S Kerry Rhodes.

Dude played 15 games last year for Arizona, had 4 picks. He's just 31.

His phone has been dead silent.

And nobody wants to talk about this.

Except Drew Magary at Deadspin, who points out that more than a few teams could use a guy like this on the field. Hell, my Redskins need a decent safety worse than Dane Cook needs actually funny material.

Look at his career stats and you will see that there was no obvious drop-off in the quality of Rhodes's play in 2012 compared to theseven previous seasons. He's been serviceable at worst and Pro Bowl-caliber at best. Nothing about him has changed except for the fact that someone put up a picture of him with his arm around a dude. Rhodes has vehemently denied the gay rumors, and yet the mere suspicion of his gayness seems to have been enough to make him unemployable.

What teams apparently don't need - and genuinely dread - is the media hubbub that would come with a Rhodes signing, in which surely somebody will ask him "Sooooo.... that buddy of yours you went horesback riding with? Just a pal... or....."

Or maybe, "Sooo... that guy you were kicking it on the bed with in that video, was that some sort of spoof you were filming, or... uh...."

Or maybe nobody would ask him about those things. And surely, it's nobody's business, really. That would leave it to a lockeroom of men. Men who have the internet too. And have friends who have it. Men who may SAY one thing in public about gay teammates, but think exactly the opposite.

Look, I'm not trying to push Kerry Rhodes to come out, be a trailblazer, or anything else. I could care less if he did a swishy little gay bolo dance over every dude he tackles if the Redskins signed him. All I know, is we NEED a decent safety.

And there's one sitting out there. Very curious.

Roger Goodell, call your office.