BROOKE GLADSTONE: Thousands of members of the press have convened this week on San Diego for Super Bowl XXXIII. By now they have analyzed and re-analyzed every conceivable big story of the past year's National Football League season. That is, except one. On the Media's John Solomon explains.

ESERA TUAOLO: I am a gay NFL -- well, former NF-- NFL player.

JOHN SOLOMON: With that disclosure on HBO's Real Sports in October, ex-defensive lineman Esera Tuaolo stunned the football world. Yet even more shocking were the comments of a member of the media. Tuaolo's former teammate, Sterling Sharpe, who is now a prominent ESPN on-air personality. Sharpe told HBO that had Tuaolo come out while playing his own teammates would have attempted to seriously injure him.

STERLING SHARPE: He would have been eaten alive. And he would have been hated for it. Had he come out on a Monday-- with Wednesday, Thursday, Friday practices -- he'd have never gotten to the other team. Ever.

JOHN SOLOMON: Sharpe also said that had he played with an openly gay teammate, the public might think he too was gay.

STERLING SHARPE: Because now I gotta answer questions that normally -- I'm not answering! Question - my heart - question my ability -- do not question my-- machoism, so to speak; my sexuality.

JOHN SOLOMON: Surprisingly, Sharpe's media brethren didn't question him on any of his statements. They didn't as, for example, if Sharpe feels most players would jeopardize their chances to win by physically disabling a gay teammate. What does Sharpe really think that the public's perception of his sexuality has changed now that it is widely known he shared the locker room with a homosexual? New York Times columnist Robert Lipsyte says the media is cowardly when it comes to covering the issue of pro sports and homosexuality.

ROBERT LIPSYTE: Sportswriters stay away from the story because-- they know that it makes athletes very uncomfortable; makes coaches very uncomfortable. And they want to be able to come back into the locker room.

JOHN SOLOMON: Lipsyte says it also touches a deep societal nerve about ideals of masculinity -- a hard-nosed, 6' 3" 310 lb. defensive tackle who happens to be gay imperils long-held stereotypes.

ROBERT LIPSYTE: What's it mean if a homosexual can be every bit as macho and tough and competent as a heterosexual? Well then, you know, this immediately stars tearing at the very fabric of what we've been conditioned all these years -- and it's very tough for a jock and I think it's also tough for a lot of sportswriters.

JOHN SOLOMON: The media have given sports a pass when it comes to talking about gays in the workplace, largely because one of the workplaces in sports is a locker room. Early in the season, New York Giants rookie Jeremy Shockey told the Howard Stern Show he hoped there weren't any gays in the NFL, adding "They're gonna be in the shower with us and stuff, so I don't think that's going to work." Shockey quickly apologized, but again the sports media showed little interest in asking him what he meant.

MIKE HAYNES: I would like to challenge the press to dig deeper and challenge their readers to, to think deeper!

JOHN SOLOMON: Mike Haynes is the NFL's vice president of player and employee development. He knows this is not an easy topic for reporters or players, because he admits holding what he calls some unsophisticated views on gays during his 14 year pro football career.

MIKE HAYNES: I think the media has accepted what these guys are saying and just have written it as it's the truth. I would ask them to -- when they're talking to the players -- to ex-- give an example of wh-- of, of - I mean what is it that they're concerned about?

JOHN SOLOMON: Haynes says that the NFL has decided to add sensitivity training on homosexuality to its player development program. But he believes that the aggressiveness of the media in covering the issue will also play a role in how pro sports deals with it. Sacramento Bee columnist Milo Bryant is one journalist who says he will alter his approach in the future. When San Francisco 49ers running back Garrison Hearst told him in an interview "I don't want any faggots on my team" Bryant says he should have followed up.

MILO BRYANT: If I was to do something again, I would ask different questions. I, I would ask more probing questions. I'd ask probably questions that would make the athletes even more uncomfortable, because a lot of the players talk about another guy being in the shower, being in the locker room with you-- them looking at you or this or that - and it's like well-- I'd want to see how many players have actually had that.

JOHN SOLOMON: Most of the press have also gone along with the conventional wisdom that pro team sports are not ready for an openly gay player. That's partly because they've let the outspoken naysayers drive the discussion. It's reminiscent of much of the media's approach in the days before the sports color barrier was broken. Mike Haynes.

MIKE HAYNES: If you go back before they were letting black athletes play [LAUGHS] football, it's - it's like we'll never have a black guy on our team! I'll never eat with a black man! You know? They were saying the same things! And I think that this is another subject matter that is very similar -- that in the end-- the guys are going to realize, you know, it was nonsense that I had that attitude.

JOHN SOLOMON: This summer the New York Post printed a blind gossip item stating that a New York Mets player who quote "spends a lot of time with pretty models in clubs is actually gay." In response to the tabloid feeding frenzy, Mets star Mike Piazza called a press conference to say "I am not gay." Reporters played down Piazza's further contention that an openly homosexual player would not be a problem for baseball. Fans may agree. Late last year, an ESPN.com survey of 40,000 users found 78 percent felt that if their "favorite player announced he was gay, it would not make a difference" to them. Now that's a story. For On the Media, this is John Solomon. [THEME MUSIC]

BOB GARFIELD:That's it for this week's show. On the Media was produced by Janeen Price, Katya Rogers and Megan Ryan with Tony Field; engineered by Dylan Keefe and Rob Christiansen, and edited--by Brooke. We had help from Sharon Ball and Brian Tilley. Our webmaster is Amy Pearl.

BROOKE GLADSTONE:Arun Rath is our senior producer and Dean Cappello our executive producer. Bassist/composer Ben Allison wrote our theme. You can listen to the program and get free transcripts at onthemedia.org and e-mail us at onthemedia@wnyc.org. This is On the Media from NPR. I'm Brooke Gladstone.

BOB GARFIELD: And I'm Bob Garfield. [MUSIC TAG]