NBA player Jason Collins comes out as gay. That's a remarkable thing, and its great that a major sports athlete feels confident enough to proclaim his sexuality. But I have a problem with the media describing him as the first major sports athlete to come out while active, because its simply isn't true.
Everyone forgets about Glenn Burke.
Burke played Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland A's back in the '70's. When he played, there was no doubt he was gay. He was "out" to his teammates, who largely didn't care, and "out" to his employers, who gave him a hard time.
The fact that the media swept Burke's sexuality under the table by ignoring it isn't Burke's fault. Collins' announcement says more about the changing attitudes of media jock sniffers towards homosexuality than it does about the attitude of athletes.