Jason Collins proves that bravery takes many forms

The first openly gay man in a major American pro sports league is generously proportioned enough to ward off any foam-flecked bigots, at 7 feet and 255 pounds, but Jason Collins has a less-easy-to-identify kind of fortitude, too. Bravery takes a lot of forms, physical being just one, and a particularly unappreciated brand of it is social courage, which is the courage to to risk your place in the society you move in.