Brendon Ayanbadejo's NFL career ended last year after he became well-known for his outspoken efforts on behalf of marriage equality.
But the former Baltimore Raven tells Gay Star News he does not believe his LGBTI activism cost him his job.
'Not at all,' he said in a recent interview. 'The average NFL career ends in three-and-a-half years. I played until I was 36. I don't think it in any way it effected my career.'
But Chris Kluwe is another matter.
Ayanbadejo told TMZ.com on Friday (3 January) that Kluwe is '100% right' that he was fired from Minnesota Vikings because of his activism.
'Everything was going smooth and all of a sudden he's off the team,' said Ayanbadejo who pointed out that Kluwe's on-field performance was not that of a player who should be ousted from the league.
It was Kluwe's blistering defense of Ayanbadejo's right to free speech that thrust him into the spotlight. Kluwe was upset that After Ayanbadejo was criticized by Democratic Maryland lawmaker Emmett C. Burns Jr. for his vocal support of gay issue.
Kluwe's profanity-filled letter filled with hilarious and inventive insults made national news in the US in the fall of 2012.
Ayanbadejo told GSN the reason he spoke out for LGBTI equality in the first place is simple: 'It's just doing the right thing. Everyone should do the right thing.'
'I have two kids and I would never want my kids to not have all the opportunity that I had,' he said. 'People paid it forward to make sure that I had the rights and freedoms that I have. So I just feel like it's my obligation to do that.'
While Kluwe, 32, felt he had several good years left in the NFL, Ayanbadejo said he left it all out on the field and was happy to end his career with a Super Bowl ring in 2013.
'I played 13 years and am retired and happily working with Fox Sports doing some commentating and analysis,' he said. 'It's been a fun road since I jumped on team with them in August.'
[GAY STAR NEWS]