"They ask you like, ‘Do you have a girlfriend?’ Are you married?’ Do you like girls?"

-- University of Colorado tight end Nick Kasa

Is it the NFL's business if someone is gay?

I mean, really. Is it? Should an owner, general manager, coach or potential teammate be made aware of someone's sexual preference? We learned earlier this week that Kasa was asked these questions by a unnamed team at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. This is, of course, almost certainly the fallout of all things known and unknown about Manti Te’o. Mike Florio reported Tuesday that teams want to know if Te’o is gay, calling it the "proverbial elephant in the room."

If this smells at all something close to Sexual McCarthyism, it's because it is. This isn't 1963, 1973, 1983, 1993 or even 2003. The world has changed, progress has been made. As a society, we have made staggering progress in terms of tolerance toward homosexuality. Is it perfect? Nope. But it's better. 

Except, evidently, in the world of professional (male) American sports. I suspect I'm being naive, but would the world really end if, for example, Te’o came out as a homosexual tomorrow? Would his (already sliding) draft stock completely plummet? 

If you believe some reports, it absolutely would. And that both mystifies and terrifies me. It also shows a remarkable lack of faith in the maturity and intelligence of the current NFL player. What would happen if a team drafted a known homosexual? I mean it, what would happen? Would there be a revolt, would grown men actually refuse to shower near this person? Would teammates try to hurt this guy at practice? Would there be a blizzard of homosexual slurs? Would this man have to be the closest thing we've seen to Jackie Robinson in our lifetime?

Again, I'm possibly naive, but I think it wouldn't be nearly as contentious as some may want to believe. First, the league would 100 percent have the back of the player. If a teammate or opponent criticized or delivered a cheap shot, there would be ramifications much larger than usual. And, unlike Robinson, virtually the entire national media would treat the first openly gay NFL player as if he were a savior, an agent of positive change. 

Now, would there be obvious opposition in a locker room? Sure, we know that. We've seen players tweet and offer anti-gay thoughts. That's never going to go away, ever. There is always going to be bigoted thought, there is always going to be insecurity. But look at the instant backlash Chris Culliver received for his remarks, and imagine if he said that about an actual teammate. He'd be eviscerated both by the general public and within his own organization. This macho, posturing garbage has become increasingly transparent and I think represents a (vocal, perhaps) minority in professional sports. 

Is there also the fundamentalist crowd, Torri Hunter, Tim Thomas and the rest? Yes, and that strikes me as the largest obstacle. I think it's ludicrous that people believe that a God would even care about what two grown, consenting adults do in their private time, but it appears to be serious business, stuff that might signal the End of The World. Again, these folks are going to get crushed in the court of public opinion and have to show some flexibility. Will it be rough at first? It will, just as it was for the whites on the Dodgers who didn't want to play with Robinson. Is that an issue today? Time to join the 21st century.

The NFL has no business, none, to ask about the sexual preferences of a prospective player, just as your employer doesn't. It has nothing to do with the skill level of a player, nothing to do with the mental or physical toughness, nothing to do with the work ethic. It's a deplorable, backward way of thinking, trying to shame or guilt, the kind of questioning that exists nowhere else in society. 

Look, I have no idea if Te’o is straight (as he told Katie Couric) or gay, just as I have no idea if he'll be a terrific or lousy NFL linebacker (I suspect somewhere in the middle). But if he (or anyone else) was openly homosexual and the Patriots thought that person was the very best option available for their football team, here's hoping Bill Belichick would make that selection. 

Would it be a distraction? I really don't know -- it would receive a massive amount of attention. There's no proof that equates to failure, or a lost season. The 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers won 94 games and played in the World Series; would they have won 96 and beat the Yankees without all the hysteria surrounding Robinson? The idea that a gay player would be a huge, team-killing distraction is manufactured, there is of course no proof. A smart, well-run, veteran-filled team would be able to handle it. And the Patriots obviously qualify. 

Maybe it's another 50 years before an active NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB player declares his homosexuality. But I doubt it, there has been a transformative shift in society, it's now an inevitability that this person will be supported and saluted by the great majority. And I think Bill Belichick would agree.