1993 Oilers Getting More Interesting By The Day

Well well, looks like the In Living Color 'Men on Football' Super Bowl skit joke about the Oilers wasn't too far off base.

This team gets more interesting by the day.   First there was the allegation on HuffPo there was a transfeminine Derrick Doll shaking her pompoms on the Astrodome sidelines during the 1992 and 1993 seasons.

Then there was the recent NFL Network documentary about the 1993 Oilers team and all the drama surrounding it.  1-4 start, Warren Moon benching, Babygate, the nationally televised punch of Kevin Gilbride by Buddy Ryan, the 11 game win streak that led to them clinching the AFC Central title with a 12-4 record and earning home field advantage throughout the playoffs but falling victim to one last hurrah from Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs 28-20 in their divisional round Dome playoff game.   

Now in the wake of the documentary comes this preview of a Houston Chronicle article scheduled to be published on Sunday (December 29) that stated there were two gay players on that 1993 team, the team knew about it, and didn't care. 

“Listen, those guys that we’re talking about were unbelievable teammates. And if you wanted to go to war with someone, you would get those guys first. Because I have never seen tougher guys than those guys,” said Oilers Pro Bowl linebacker Lamar Lathon. “And everybody in the locker room, the consensus knew or had an idea that things were not exactly right. But guess what? When they strapped the pads on and got on the field, man, we were going to war with these guys because they were unbelievable.”

It's interesting info in light of the fact that no active NFL player has come out, and only a handful of NFL players have come out in retirement.  It's also interesting to note that Brendon Ayanbadejo and Chris Kluwe, after expressing support for marriage equality and filing an amicus brief on February 28 in support of the Hollingsworth v Perry case then before the US Supreme Court, were let go by their respective NFL teams and were not signed by any NFL team during the 2013 season.  

But back to the 1993 Oilers and that gay players revelation.  That was the way it should have been.  Nobody giving a damn about those two gay Oilers except for how they did their jobs on the playing field.

As to who they are, I remember hearing a lot of rumors during that time about who those players were, but as long as my fave team was winning, I didn't care.  

Looking forward to reading that Chronicle article on Sunday.