Welsh Sports Star Commits Suicide: Gay Rumors Fly

Football fans were shocked to hear the news of Gary Speed's death last weekend. The Welsh soccer ("football," in U.K. parlance) player and manager seemed happy and calm when he appeared on a UK television program, discussing upcoming football matches, but just a few hours later Speed, 42, was found dead at his home.

"Twenty minutes before we went on air on Saturday, he was the normal Gary Speed to me," said Gary McAllister, a former teammate who also appeared on the BBC program "Football Focus." "He was very excited about the prospects of the Welsh national team and was upbeat, looking class, immaculately presented. He was a movie star in my eyes."

On Nov. 27 around 7 in the morning Speed's wife, Louise, discovered her husband's body hanging in their garage.

Gary had a seemingly perfect life: he had a thriving and successful career, a loving wife and children, plenty of friends, and no financial woes. Authorities, family and fans were all stumped by his suicide.

The sports star was the first man to play 500 games in the Premier League and the youngest member of the midfield that brought Leeds to its most recent league title in 1992. Speed also rearranged Wale's ailing national team and coached a young team, where they won four out of five matches.

Speed's friends and family were hurt and confused at the unexpected loss of the great athlete. Although no official evidence has surfaced, football fans in the blogosphere are buzzing about possible rumors that Speed killed himself because he was gay.

Sports fans are also suggesting that Speed got wind that The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, was going to print a story about his private life, possibly about being a homosexual, according to the Telegraph.

The Telegraph also reported, however, that The Sun tweeted, "No truth in this story. The Sun was not investigating Gary Speed in any way."

In a Nov. 21 article, EDGEreported about an Australian Cricket player who took his own life after local police questioned him about an alleged sexual assault on a 26-year-old Zimbabwean student.

Peter Roebuck was allowing 16 men stay at his home and was paying for their educations. The student claimed that Roebuck asked him to take off his shirt and then pinned him to the bed and then assaulted him. After police questioned him about the incident, the athlete jumped out of his hotel room's window to his death.