The 39 current NFL players have all played wh a gay teammate - Outsports

Contents:

• GAY FOOTBALL PLAYER HOP TO BE CHOSEN BY A NFL TEAM
• MEET THE 16 OUT GAY AND BI FOOTBALL PLAYERS THE NFL’S 103-YEAR HISTORY
• NFL ACH BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR U.S. MEN’S PRO SPORTS TO E OUT AS GAY
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• CARL NASSIB OUT AS 1ST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE NFL PLAYER
• THREE GAY FOOTBALL PLAYERS FEATURED NFL NETWORK SEGMENT ON CARL NASSIB
• BEFORE CARL NASSIB, MICHAEL SAM WAS THE NFL’S FIRST OPENLY GAY DRAFT PICK. HE NEVER PLAYED A REGULAR SEASON GAME.
• THE 39 CURRENT NFL PLAYERS HAVE ALL PLAYED WH AN OUT GAY TEAMMATE
• COFFEE STEAD OF SHOWERS: THE SECRET LIFE OF A GAY NFL PLAYER
• CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY N.F.L. PLAYER, HAS BEEN A FOOTBALL EVERYMAN
• CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE NFL PLAYER, ULD BE TURNG POT FOR MALE SPORTS
• GAY FORMER NFL PLAYER ESERA TUAOLO SAYS LEAGUE IS READY FOR OPENLY GAY PLAYER
• 8 MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO DARED TO COME OUT AS GAY
• CARL NASSIB, FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER NFL GAME, MAK HISTORY AND STARS THRILLG LAS VEGAS RAIRS W
• CARL NASSIB, FIRST OPENLY GAY NFL PLAYER, TO BE RELEASED BY RAIRS

GAY FOOTBALL PLAYER HOP TO BE CHOSEN BY A NFL TEAM

Gay Football Player Hop To Be Chosen By A NFL Team Stt Frantz hop to make the NFL. If he do, he uld be the first openly gay athlete to play a game profsnal football's regular season. And as Greg Echl reports, that would make NFL ECHLIN, BYLINE: Stt Frantz me out publicly three years ago, before his sophomore season at Kansas State, that he's gay.

MEET THE 16 OUT GAY AND BI FOOTBALL PLAYERS THE NFL’S 103-YEAR HISTORY

There has never been an openly gay player who has ma this Tsler spoke on Frantz's behalf bee Frantz cled to ment for this story. He's one of the smartt football players I've been Until now, the most visible se of an openly gay man attemptg to play the NFL was Michael Sam. The NFL has played for more than 100 years and there have been 16 gay or bi players to e out publicly.

NFL ACH BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR U.S. MEN’S PRO SPORTS TO E OUT AS GAY

Over the years, Outsports has known of a few other players who are gay but have never e out, even when retired. Jenks is gay and this was the the first time he wily discsed his sexual orientatn.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay. Per Outsports, as of September 2022, there have only ever been 16 players NFL history to publicly e out as gay or bisexual. Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player league history to announce that he is gay 2021.

Per Outsports, Maxen is the “first publicly out male ach a major Amerin men’s pro sports league, ” wh WNBA ach Curt Miller, who publicly me out to the media as gay 2015, also a publicly out male ach an Amerin profsnal sports league. -- Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's profsnal sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer and to possibly spire others siar 's a cisn and move that drew praise and support om owner Shad Khan, who was a vol and emphatic supporter of a cy ordance that expand protectns on the grounds of sexual orientatn, genr inty and genr exprsn.

Outsi lebacker Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay and to play a game Associated Prs ntributed to this report.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Currently, Carl Nassib of the Tampa Bay Bucneers is the only openly gay player the NFL, but he recently went public wh his boyiend, Danish Olympic swimmer Søren Dahl. Jacksonville Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen cid on Thursday to e out publicly as gay hop of livg his life whout fear and to spire others.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

Before jog Jacksonville’s achg staff, he was a strength ach for the football teams at Baylor and Febary 2022, Maxen reached out to NFL player Carl Nassib, who me out as gay 2021, to seek advice.

Otherwise, we create a pattern of celebratg an athlete’s bravery while also cuttg their reer off at the exampl offer utnary Michael Sam told the world he was gay, he was drafted the seventh round 2014, the lowt pick of any SEC fensive player of the year.

Dpe reachg out several tim, I haven’t spoken to my sports agent aga to this 2021, Carl beme the first NFL player on an active roster to e out as gay.

CARL NASSIB OUT AS 1ST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE NFL PLAYER

Did seem possible for me to say publicly and proudly that I'm gay, " he wrote.

Universy of Missouri fensive end Michael Sam me out as gay 2014 before the St. The subject was the impact of Carl Nassib g out as gay the NFL for the Las Vegas Rairs.

THREE GAY FOOTBALL PLAYERS FEATURED NFL NETWORK SEGMENT ON CARL NASSIB

Matea offensive leman Jake Strer, who is gay, is one of five current or former LGBTQ athlet profiled. “When I returned to football my sophomore year after g out was bee I knew that if I qu football was jt the begng of thgs I would qu or hold myself back om bee I was gay, ” Strer told Outsports.

BEFORE CARL NASSIB, MICHAEL SAM WAS THE NFL’S FIRST OPENLY GAY DRAFT PICK. HE NEVER PLAYED A REGULAR SEASON GAME.

“To fast forward to my last football game my senr year and have end wh ‘NFL 360’ there to clu me a story celebratg the first openly gay football player NFL history is still really unbelievable to me. EST, we see scen of Strer’s last game as a Matea Mtang, terspersed wh him speakg about beg gay football and what Nassib’s g out meant to him.

THE 39 CURRENT NFL PLAYERS HAVE ALL PLAYED WH AN OUT GAY TEAMMATE

Their experienc are universal, ways good and bad, for many LGBTQ people — Pick talkg about the pa om the ial rejectn by her mom; O’Callaghan discsg suicidal thoughts before beg rcued by a therapist; Rapoport’s touchg rellectn of g out to NFL Commissner Roger Gooll by approachg him at a Super Bowl event holdg her girliend’s hand and Gooll’s se upon seeg ; Saffold discsg growg up Black and gay on the South Si of Chigo “where there are rampant levels of homophobia” and Strer on how he ed to worry “about how bad my life might be after I me out. “I thk 11- or 12-year-old kids playg football prr to Carl Nassib g out didn’t thk there uld be a gay football player, ” Rapoport said. Seven years before Las Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay on Monday, an all-Amerin om the Universy of Missouri risked a promisg reer wh a public claratn.

“I am an openly proud gay man, ” Michael Sam, a 24-year-old fensive end, told ESPN and the New York Tim Febary announcement followed a surprisg 12-2 season for Missouri, which won the SEC East and then the Cotton Bowl as Sam was named the SEC fensive player of the year. On Tuday, Sam thanked Nassib for jog the ranks of LGBTQ football players, payg special tribute to the donatn Nassib ma to the Trevor Project, a nonprof foced on suici Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib announced June 21 on Instagram that he is gay, makg him the first active NFL player to e out.

COFFEE STEAD OF SHOWERS: THE SECRET LIFE OF A GAY NFL PLAYER

The NFL particular had faced cricism for allegedly askg prospects about their sexual orientatn and had been acced of hamperg players who spoke out favor of gay many profsnal athlet around the world, cludg several retired NFL players, had e out by 2014, no one who was still playg football had dared to make that move before story rurfaced on Monday when the 28-year-old Nassib, who was drafted by the Cleveland Browns 2016 and now plays for the Rairs, announced that he is gay a vio on Instagram. “Here’s the tth: Everyone ow Michael Sam such a b of gratu, ” Wa Davis, a former NFL rnerback who me out as gay 2012, told The Washgton Post on Monday.

He wasn’t the only gay man who stggled to fd a place the NFL after g retired NFL players have publicly intified as gay, begng wh Dave Kopay, who me out 1975, three years after leavg the sport. Some people still believe that the NFL is a “homophobic” monolh where ’s “dangero” to be gay.

Dpe Outsports chroniclg lerally dozens of piec of evince to the ntrary, there’s a ntued belief amongst some that NFL players would overwhelmgly reject a gay player if he me out. So we set out to figure out how many current NFL players have already played on the same team wh an out gay teammate. We found 39 current NFL players, who were on a roster for the 2020 season, who have already had an out gay teammate.

CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY N.F.L. PLAYER, HAS BEEN A FOOTBALL EVERYMAN

In addn, dozens of other players have played agast an opponent they knew to be gay. The 39 current NFL players have played wh at least five gay or bisexual men who were out to their team while they were on the same team. The Arizona Cardals have the most players we know have played wh an out gay teammate.

At least six of the players on the Cardals’ 2020 roster — about 10% of the team, — has already had a gay teammate they knew of. Wh that experience, solid veteran learship, a ach Kliff Kgsbury who has ld gay football player Stt Frantz, and a ont office that has monstrated an embrace of LGBTQ people, is easy to make the se that an out gay player wh the Cardals would be weled. Of urse many other NFL players have played wh a gay or bi teammate before they me out (e.

The are the current NFL players to have played wh an out gay or bi man on their team (wh that team and their current team listed):. If you thk I’ve missed a current NFL player who’s played wh an out gay or bi teammate, be sure to leave the rmatn the ments below.

CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE NFL PLAYER, ULD BE TURNG POT FOR MALE SPORTS

When Kansas State offensive tackle and NFL hopeful Stt Frantz me out to the natn as gay last week, he shared that his teammat, to whom he'd e out earlier, had warmly received the news, a sign the most alpha of locker rooms may fally be ready for equaly. So, wh two gay players takg the field the top tier of llege football this season, has the future fally charged onto the turf? Here's a list of players llege and pro ball who have proved you n be gay or bi and still n the KopayRunng back Dave Kopay, who signed wh the San Francis 49ers 1964, would play for five teams before hangg up his jersey 1972.

Coach Vce Lombardi had apparently nfid Smh that he knew of his sexualy but would never let impact him negatively; Lombardi's brother was also gay. Yet he nspicuoly has never been ducted to the NFL Hall of SimmonsRoy "Sugar Bear" Simmons, an offensive leman for the New York Giants and Washgton Redsks, beme the send NFL player ever to publicly reveal he was gay. So Coach Vce Lombardi knew McDonald was gay when he took over learship of the team 1969, but ma clear there would be no discrimatn his locker room, those close to the legend say.

He would e out to HBO Sports 2002, where he discsed lghg off gay jok and slurs for years while he played DavisCornerback Wa Davis, who played preason wh the Tennsee Tans, Seattle Seahawks and Washgton Redsks and spent two seasons wh NFL Europe teams Berl Thunr and Barcelona Dragons, me out as gay 2012, nearly a after his retirement. He would later nfirm his sexualy on CNN and s down wh ESPN to discs the challeng of growg up gay Jamai and playg football while closeted.

GAY FORMER NFL PLAYER ESERA TUAOLO SAYS LEAGUE IS READY FOR OPENLY GAY PLAYER

Michael SamThe world took notice 2014 when All-Amerin fensive end Michael Sam me out as gay to ESPN while still llege. Louis Rams and beme the first openly gay player ever to get drafted by an NFL team.

He did end up playg two years wh the Montreal Alouett, makg him the first openly gay player the history of the Canadian Football BryantA Purdue alum who gaed more yards than any other non-Heisman Trophy wner Big Ten history, Dorien Bryant failed to get drafted 2008.

He later cled to sign wh the Tennsee Tans and Dallas Cowboys before g out as gay at 24, he told Philalphia Magaze 2013. He would later move to San Francis and jo the Fog, a gay gby team, and pen a g-out blog post GallagherA Universy of Ptsburgh offensive leman om 1977 through 1979, Ed Gallagher reprsed his sexualy until 1985, when he had his first sexual enunter wh a man, then attempted to kill himself 12 days later. He died LuhenA kicker for the Nebraska Cornhkers who played om 2003 through 2005, Eric Luhen told Outsports he was open about beg gay and suffered relentls bullyg om a handful of teammat.

8 MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO DARED TO COME OUT AS GAY

While he said he never kept his sexualy a secret, a "nspiracy of silence" left the matter unspoken the GendreA kicker for four seasons wh the Middle Tennsee Blue Rairs, Alan Gendre, openly gay om age 16 on, would end his llege reer as the lead srer Sun Belt nference history.

He ma the cisn to announce he was gay, the first active Divisn III player to do so, after nnectg wh Conner Mertens through You Can Play, he SarafArizona State leman Chris Saraf 2014 me out as gay to lol LGBT publitn Compete, makg him the first Divisn I player out of the closet. The move quickly brought msag of support om the athletic partment and universy officials, and the wrer for Compete told The Arizona Republic that the school fact approached him about breakg the SimsBrian Sims 2000 was named -pta for the Bloomsberg Universy football team Pennsylvania, makg him the first openly gay llege football pta NCAA history, acrdg to Outsports. Sims, post-football, entered polics and 2012 beme the first openly gay polician ever elected to the Pennsylvania Hoe of DarrowAn offensive leman for Prceton, Mason Darrow me out 2015.

CARL NASSIB, FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER NFL GAME, MAK HISTORY AND STARS THRILLG LAS VEGAS RAIRS W

He's now pursug a ont-office job profsnal JohnsonMy-Kg Johnson, a recent grad of Tempe High School Arizona, is set this fall to be the first openly gay scholarship player reced to play major-llege football, takg the field wh the Universy of Arizona. He said he wanted to enter his fal season of llege ball livg openly and hontly, and emailed the newspaper shortly after Kurdzlek, a iend and opponent on the field, me out PertetWyatt Pertet, a special teams player and receiver for Capal Universy, will be a sophomore this season.

CARL NASSIB, FIRST OPENLY GAY NFL PLAYER, TO BE RELEASED BY RAIRS

O’Callaghan, a former New England Patrts and Kansas Cy Chiefs offensive leman who retired 2011 after four pro seasons, me out as gay an Outsports feature published Tuday. She helped him kick his dg hab and worked wh him until he opened up, beg the first person he told that he was gay. O’Callaghan repeated himself, but Pli, who said O’Callaghan was not the first gay NFL player he had unseled, did his bt not to acknowledge the gravy of the moment.

“Beg gay wasn’t jt a small tail my life, nsumed , ” O’Callaghan said. He om a football fay, was a standout at Penn State and has tght his teammat about personal Miller/Getty ImagPublished June 22, 2021Updated June 25, 2021Las Vegas Rairs fensive leman Carl Nassib walked outsi his home Wt Chter, Pa., looked directly to his phone and did somethg that he said he hoped would one day no longer be a few brief sentenc, the 28-year-old Nassib me out as gay. Conversatns wh iends and fay ma possible, he said, for him to publicly say that he is gay.

L., his ach and his peers the league for their rpect and acceptance, and acknowledged that many gay people before him did not receive that same support. “I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay, ” the fensive leman for the Las Vegas Rairs said a vio posted to his Instagram acunt Monday.