ESPN airs homophobic report on the showering habits of gay football player Michael Sam

ESPN finds that fact that Michael Sam is the NFL's first openly-gay football player so fascinating -- or terrifying -- that the network investigated to find out which players were and were not showering with him.

On Tuesday, Deadspin flagged a clip of the morning's SportsCenter broadcast, which veers into specific details about Sam's showering habits.

Reporter Josina Anderson explained that one player told her that Sam was "simply just one of the guys, and he seems to be taking a rookie approach in terms of just listening and learning at his own pace."

"[The player] said he was just trying to feel his way through and, perhaps, see what guys he can relate to," she continued. "But another Rams defensive player told me -- quote -- 'Sam is respecting our space.'"

"And that from his perspective, he seems to think that Michael Sam is waiting to kind of take a shower, as not to make his teammates feel uncomfortable," Anderson said.

The ESPN correspondent added that two other players said that they could not verify the shower report because "they weren't tracking that."

"[Defensive tackle Kendall Langford] told me, 'Listen, I have not been in the shower at the same time as Michael Sam.' He said there definitely could be a million reasons as to why that is," Anderson asserted. "He said he could be doing extra work on the practice field, he could be riding his bike, he could be doing extra cardio."

Watch the video below from ESPN, broadcast Aug. 26, 2014.

[Photo: NFL prospect Michael Sam (Facebook)]