Jason Collins Comes Out: Mike Wallace Makes Homophobic Tweet, Apologizes

After 34-year-old NBA player Jason Collins announced today that he is gay, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Mike Wallace posted comments on Twitter which seemed to indicate disapproval for Collins' sexuality. The tweets have since been removed, but they were posted on Deadspin not long after the fact.

Collins is the first professional athlete in America's four most popular sports to identify himself as gay.

"All these beautiful women in the world," wrote Wallace, "and guys wanna mess with other guys SMH (shakin' my head) ..."

Minutes later, Wallace added, "I'm not bashing anybody don't have anything against anyone I just don't understand it."

These two posts generated a flood of comments, many from people criticizing what he had written. About a half hour later, Wallace deleted the two previous tweets and replaced them with an apology which can still be seen on his Twitter page. "Never said anything was right or wrong," he wrote, "I just said I don't understand!! Deeply sorry for anyone that I offended."

Mike Wallace signed this March with the Miami Dolphins for a reported five-year, $60 million contract. The 26-year-old was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round after playing in college with the University of Mississippi. In 2011, while still with the Steelers, he was selected for the Pro Bowl.

Jason Collins came out as gay in a Sports Illustrated article penned by Collins and published this morning.

"When I was younger I dated women," he said in the article. "I even got engaged. I thought I had to live a certain way. I thought I needed to marry a woman and raise kids with her. I kept telling myself the sky was red, but I always knew it was blue."

He wrote that he had considered coming out during the 2011 NBA lockout, when uncertainty over the season would begin again "wreacked havoc" on his workout schedule and gave him time to ponder things beside his profession.

White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that he had not spoken to the president about Collins' article, but said that the White House approved.

"Here at the White House," he said, "we view that as another example of the progress that has been made and the evolution that has been taking place in this country, and commend him for his courage and support him in this effort, and hope that his fans and his team support him going forward."