Here's Hansen's thoughtful speech:
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Hansen's scathing words towards NFL employees who are afraid of drafting an openly gay player: "It wasn't that long ago that we were being told that black players couldn't play in our games because it would be uncomfortable. And even when they finally could it took several more years before a black man played quarterback, because we weren't comfortable with that either. So many of the same people who used to make that argument and the many who still do are the same people who say government should stay out of our lives but then want government in our bedrooms. I've never understood how they feel comfortable laying claim to both sides of that argument."
He then opens up and admits "I'm not always comfortable when a man tells me he's gay, I don't understand his world. But I do understand that he's part of mine."
After that, the sportscaster goes on to quote writer and civil rights activist Audre Lorde, who said “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”
Hansen concludes that "we've always been able to recognize 'em, some of us accept 'em, and I want to believe that there will be a day that we do celebrate 'em. I don't know if that day's here yet, I guess we're about to find out, but when I listen to Michael Sam I do think it's time to celebrate him now."