Around 20 years ago when I was living in NYC and in a financial bind with my pregnant wife in law school, I worked as a bartender in a high-end gay bar.
There were not lots of gay professional athletes that would show-up but there were quite a few, mostly from baseball and some from football and basketball.
From what I could tell, these guys were not trying to hide their orientation and it was clear that while the public may not have known, their teammates did know.
How bout naming a few. Sounds like BS to me. Football is a man’s sport, not a fag’s.