Carriker, right, says the Washington football team would be welcoming toward an openly gay player. (Photo by Keith Allison)

Adam Carriker, a defensive end for the Washington football team, said on a radio program he hosted last weekend that he doesn’t think an openly gay NFL player would stir any locker room controversy.

Carriker, a sixth-year player who came to Washington in 2010, hosts a radio show, 4th and Pain, that is nominally about professional wrestling, though his listeners often ask him gridiron-related questions. One question on last weekend’s show reacted to a CBS Sports story last month reporting that an active NFL player is strongly considering declaring himself openly gay. None of the United States’ major professional team sports leagues have ever had an openly gay player.

The listener asked for Carriker’s thoughts on the report. As transcribed by CBS DC, Carriker said that not only would it not be a big deal to him if a player came out, but that given the size of the NFL, it is hardly surprising that there is at least one gay player.

“There’s almost 2,000 NFL players, maybe just under,” he said. “Odds are somebody out there in the big wide world of the NFL is gay.”

But Carriker said that reaction might vary from team to team. In the case of the Washington football team, Carriker said that with a lot of veteran players on the roster, there wouldn’t be any internal upheaval.

“If it were a [Washington football team] player, I don’t think it would be a big deal,” he said. “We have a lot of veteran good guys.”

Younger players on the Washington football team have expressed the same outlook, too. Last year, Robert Griffin III told reporters he only cares what his teammates do on the field, not about their sexuality.

Last month, DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFL Players’ Association, added his name to a Supreme Court brief filed by professional athletes in support of the Supreme Court case to overturn California Proposition 8.