It seems like a situation custom-made for disaster. A college football player who’s gay… in the Deep South… and he’s a kicker. So how’s it working out for him?

(No, the “Rainbow Warriors” did not count as openly gay football players. Grow up.)

Well… pretty good, actually. As the WIZ OF ODDS reports, OUTSPORTS landed what we’re pretty sure is the first interview with an openly gay (if still anonymous) active college football player. “Tim,” as they’re calling him, is a kicker in the Bible Belt who’s gay and open enough about it that his teammates, well, know. And despite what prevalent preconceptions exist of a closed-minded South, those teammates are pretty cool about it:

His boyfriend is an openly gay former baseball player (he was closeted while playing) for his school. He comes to watch Tim play football whenever he can.

Although Tim does not introduce him to his teammates as his boyfriend, “people know,” Tim says. One of the team’s seniors said to him this past season: “I know about you, and if anyone ever messes with you, you just tell me who they are and I’ll beat the crap out of whoever it is.”

There’s either a rich irony or poetic justice in a straight man threatening to “beat the crap out of” someone who’s homophobic. Whatever works, though.

“Tim,” as we mentioned before, is using a pseudonym, so this isn’t the “one giant leap” for gay athletes coming out or anything. But interestingly enough, it’s that inherent spectacle, rather than a personal fear for his safety, that keeps the kicker anonymous:

But for now, Tim is not ready to be the poster-athlete for gays in sport. He is in no particular rush to come out publicly. He doesn’t see himself doing so in the future, either.

Like “Tim,” we’re hoping there’s a day when an athlete’s sexuality doesn’t matter to anybody, fan or rival, but there’s got to be a first, unfortunately. If he won’t be that first, then the cloud of anonymity will hang over however many other gay athletes there are in America (a number that’s probably a lot higher than you think).

The whole interview is cool, and a rather jarring reflection of the overwhelming level of acceptance of gay people among young people regardless of geography, especially compared to even one generation ago.