Brendon Ayanbadejo, a highly visible defender of gay rights and same-sex marriage, told Newsday on Thursday he thinks his advocacy was one of the reasons the NFL champion Ravens released him.

"My bark is louder than my bite," Ayanbadejo told Newsday. "I make a lot of noise and garner a lot of attention for various things off the football field. When that starts happening, why do you have that player around?"