Celebs took to Twitter to support Collins

Mike Wallace                                              Jason Collins

The public response Monday to Jason Collins’ announcement that he is gay was overwhelmingly supportive, at least among other professional athletes.

Collins’ essay, in which he came out as the first player in a major American sports league while still pursuing his career, was published online by Sports Illustrated on Monday morning. It precipitated an outpouring of supportive comments on social media sites by his fellow NBA players,clubs and former professional athletes.

Outside the NBA, encouragement was posted to Twitter by Obama and Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Martina Navratilova, Spike Lee, Michael Strahan and others.

Athletes from other sports also took to Twitter to support Collins,

One of the few negative public comments from a pro athlete came from Mike Wallace, a Miami Dolphins wide receiver, who wrote on Twitter

Wallace followed with one saying that he was not bashing anyone but that he did not understand homosexuality. He ultimately deleted both messages and posted another clarification in which he apologized for offending people.

The rare negative reaction among NBA players came from David West of the Indiana Pacers, who took issue with Collins’ introducing his race as part of the story. He chose to not elaborate when pressed by his followers.

Supportive comments

A word of appreciation from Jason