USA TODAY Sports' Scott Gleeson talks about homophobia in sports a year after Michael Sam.
When Jason Collins was in the closet, and in NBA locker rooms, he often heard gay slurs of the sort that would be a firing offense at many American companies.
"I remember, each time I heard it, thinking to myself, 'If I were to come out, this person would reject me,' " Collins tells USA TODAY Sports, "because they were using it so freely and casually."
His experience is in line with a new international study on homophobia in sports, which found 84% of gay men and 82% of lesbians have heard such language in locker rooms.