Sports fans can add San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia to the growing list of professional athletes who feel the need to declare that they are heterosexuals.

Notably, Mike Piazza held a press conference in 2002 to make his orientation clear; boxer Lennox Lewis, who lives with his mother and has a poodle, has also gone on the record that he’s not gay; and, most recently, Cleveland Indians pitcher Kazuhito Tadano said he is not gay, despite widely-circulated reports of his being featured in a gay porn film while in college.

“I’ve heard the rumor myself that I’m gay,” 49ers’ Garcia told Matt Maiocco of The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, in an interview that ran on Feb. 4, the week of the 49ers’ final game of the regular season. “That is not the case. I’ve had girlfriends in the past and I do want to be married some day. ... Somebody saying it obviously doesn’t have any clue as to who I am as a person and, secondly, speaks from a sense of having jealousy for what I’ve been able to attain as a person and is trying to knock me. Well, they’re not knocking me.”

Garcia became the 49ers’ head quarterback in 1999, replacing long-time favorite Steve Young. He earned three consecutive Pro Bowl selections while becoming the first quarterback in 49ers history to complete 300 or more passes in three consecutive seasons.

Since taking over as quarterback, rumors have circulated about Garcia, most of which are attributed to his mannerisms and voice. The subject of his sexual orientation came up in regards to an interview about the 49ers’ long-time trainer Lindsy McLean, who recently came out. On the website Outsports.com, Maiocco said that Garcia willingly discussed the gay rumors.

Garcia is not the first quarterback for the 49ers to face gay rumors. His predecessor, Steve Young, was the popular subject of rumors and, since retiring, has gone on to marry and start a family.

“Part of it is the label,” Garcia told The Press Democrat, “being successful, being single, being the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, speaking properly, having a sense of style. A combination of those things gets you categorized as being gay. Just because an individual in his 30s hasn’t found true love and, yes, there are opportunities to date but it also forces you to be more particular. In so many ways, you become more adamant about finding that right person and not allowing yourself to open up to just anybody.”

Garcia, who turns 34 later this month, said he has learned of the rumors from friends who have been approached by others who do not know him. He has also heard derogatory words shouted at him while on the road.

“I heard quite a bit of that when we played in Oakland and I heard it in Philadelphia,” Garcia said. “I don’t take it personally.”

Garcia said he heard the same things said about him when he played five seasons with the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders.

“I don’t know if it’s how I speak or what it is about me that presents that sort of label,” he said, “but I don’t know how many times I have to be out in public with a girlfriend to stop that from being said.”