Since Jason Collins became the first male player in American professional sports to come out, he has received both disdain and attacks from pundits, coaches and players, but also plenty of encouragement.

On Meet The Press Sunday, former Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo — who has used the spotlight to advocate for marriage equality — said he hopes that one day gay male athletes will no longer be surprising or big news to fans. Ayanbadejo highlighted the need to reform hyper-masculine sports culture to be more accepting of all people:

AYANBADEJO: People think gayness has something to do with femininity when really we just need to erase that stereotypes from our minds. LGBT people come in all different types and shapes and forms. So I think that’s really what we’re fighting. But the beautiful thing about what Britney Griner did, it barely made a splash. That’s what we’re trying to do in men’s sports when people announce they’re gay. We don’t want it to change the climate in sports. We want everybody to be accepted and people can go out there and love who they want to love and be who they are so they cannot only be better people but they can also be better athletes.

Watch it:

Ayanbadejo also encouraged NFL players to follow Collins’ lead, hinting that more athletes may make announcements this year. “When an athlete does come out they’ll have a supportive group around them,” he said.

Last September, Maryland Del. Emmett Burns (D) wrote a letter to Baltimore Ravens owner Steven Disciotti demanding he silence linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo from speaking out for marriage equality. (That letter prompted Minnesota Viking Chris Kluwe’s infamous response that gay people “won’t magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster.”) A few days later, Burns admitted that Ayanbadejo “has his First Amendment rights.” Now, a Maryland legislative ethics committee has found that his use of government stationary was “an abuse of public resources“:

Your use of official General Assembly letterhead to pressure the employer of a citizen of Maryland to suppress the citizen’s right of free speech was a particularly egregious abuse of public resources.

The committee recommended no disciplinary action, however, telling Burns “you have recognized the error of your violation and have publicly apologized.” It’s unclear that he actually ever apologized, though. Despite having admitted Ayanbadejo has First Amendment rights, Burns still feels that “professional football is not the place to be pushing gay rights.” Given Burns’ vociferous opposition to LGBT equality, he likely doesn’t believe that any such “place to be pushing gay rights” exists at all.

Super Bowl champion Brendon Ayanbadejo has, as promised, used the spotlight of winning the big game to speak out for marriage equality. CNN’s Don Lemon conducted an extended interview today with Ayanbadejo, who used the opportunity to not only reiterate his support for marriage equality, but to endorse the fair treatment for all members of the LGBT community:

AYANBADEJO: Everyone’s been talking to gay people their whole lives whether we know it or not. We really believe that you’re born gay. I’ve had plenty of conversations with people that are gay and they say they are born gay, no different than me being born this beautiful almond coconut color that I am. People are born gay. So why treat them any differently? It’s time that we treat everybody fairly. And not only are we trying to dictate who people should love. We’re also trying to dictate who people should be. If a woman wants to wear a man’s clothes or if a man wants to wear a woman’s clothes or you feel like you’re a woman on the inside and you’re really a man. Who cares? Let’s just treat everybody equally. Let’s move on. Let’s evolve as a culture, as a people.

He also commented on the 49ers who made various anti-gay comments, including Chris Culliver’s remarks that he wouldn’t play with a gay player and subsequent non-apology apology. According to Ayanbadejo, the Ravens won because they loved each other more. Watch the full interview to see what a true LGBT ally looks like (HT: Towleroad):

On Tuesday night’s The Daily Show, Jon Stewart dedicated a segment to a few advances in cultural acceptance for gays and lesbians, notably the potential that the Boy Scouts will soon change their anti-gay policy and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo’s plan to use the Super Bowl spotlight to advocate for marriage equality. Stewart suggests the gay rights movement is beginning to “enter ares of national life previously thought closed off” and calls out opponents of equality like Frank S. Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, for claiming to be “respectful” in their condemnation.

Watch it:

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo was an outspoken advocate for marriage equality during the campaign in Maryland last year, but his support has not waned since that victorious conclusion. Now that the Ravens are bound for the Super Bowl, he wants to use that visibility to promote equality on a bigger scale:

He tapped out an email to Brian Ellner, a leading marriage-equality advocate with whom he had worked before, and Michael Skolnik, the political director for Russell Simmons, a hip-hop mogul who has become involved in many issues, including same-sex marriage.

Ayanbadejo wrote: “Is there anything I can do for marriage equality or anti- bullying over the next couple of weeks to harness this Super Bowl media?” The time stamp on the email was 3:40:35 A.M.

Ayanbadejo joked that this was his “Jerry Maguire email,” and told Frank Bruni at the New York Times that he’s really excited about the opportunity to do more:

“It’s one of those times when you’re really passionate and in your zone,” Ayanbadejo told me, referring to Maguire’s movie moment and to his own real-life one, in the wee hours of Monday morning. “And I got to thinking about all kinds of things, and I thought: how can we get our message out there?”

He may have his sights on winning the Super Bowl, but he’s looking past that too:

“That’s my ultimate goal after the Super Bowl,” Ayanbadejo told me. “To go on Ellen’s show, to be dancing with her, to bust a move with her.”

In addition to Ellner and Skolnik, he has reached out to Hudson Taylor, founder of Athlete Ally, to explore opportunities to do more to combat bullying and homophobia in athletics.

Ayanbadejo is the model of a straight ally: a football star who just found out he was going to the Super Bowl and reacted by asking what he could do to support the LGBT community. Plenty of individuals will step up when asked, but it’s the ones who take their own initiative who make the biggest difference.