Jags' Maxen is first male Amerin pro sports ach to e out as gay - ESPN

Contents:

• IN 101 NFL SEASONS THERE HAS NEVER BEEN AN OPENLY GAY PLAYER
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• MEET THE 16 OUT GAY AND BI FOOTBALL PLAYERS THE NFL’S 103-YEAR HISTORY
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR U.S. PRO LEAGUE TO E OUT AS GAY
• RAIRS’ CARL NASSIB ANNOUNC HE’S GAY, AN N.F.L. FIRST
• NFL SHAR NEW VIO THAT SAYS ‘FOOTBALL IS GAY’
• THERE HAVE BEEN 11 KNOWN GAY PLAYERS NFL HISTORY
• THE GAY NFL SUPERSTARS
• 7 GAY NFL FOOTBALL PLAYERS

IN 101 NFL SEASONS THERE HAS NEVER BEEN AN OPENLY GAY PLAYER

But one nstant will rema as has for 101 years — there will be no openly gay or bi players on any of the 32 teams. There are closeted gay players the NFL right now and there have been every season for as long back as I n remember and the league is rife wh straight alli who say they would wele a gay teammate. Fear of the reactn of teammat, fans, ach, executiv and sponsors and the tense media spotlight that would she (for a short while) on the first active gay player.

There have been 13 players who are eher gay or bi and me out after their reers end, most recently Ryan Rsell, a fensive leman wh the Cowboys and Bucneers. The NFL Network produced a documentary on Smh beg gay. Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY 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.

Kev Maxen is gay. No NFL ach had ever publicly e out as gay, so Maxen, an assistant strength and ndng ach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, kept quiet about his sexual orientatn.And that ma him angry — at himself.“It was an anger and hatred of myself bee I put myself a life where I was livg by other people’s l and not by my own,” Maxen told Outsports. Men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay.

JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS

Former San Francis 49ers offensive assistant Katie Sowers beme the NFL’s first ach to e out as gay 2017.

First-year Sparks ach Curt Miller, who ached the Connecticut Sun for seven years before that, has been out for s.Acrdg to the article, Maxen ma his cisn to do so last year and reached out for advice om Carl Nassib, who 2021 beme the NFL’s first out gay active player as a member of the Las Vegas Rairs.It was Nassib who put Maxen ntact wh Outsports. Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen is believed to be the first openly gay male ach major North Amerin men's sports after g out publicly an terview wh Outsports.

”Maxen is believed to be the first openly gay male ach the NFL and all of major Amerin men's pro sports, acrdg to Outsports. " San Francis 49ers assistant Katie Sowers, a pneer among female ach the NFL, me out as the the league's first openly gay ach 2017, acrdg to Outsports. He add that he reached out last year for advice on g out om former Las Vegas Rairs lebacker Carl Nassib, who beme the first active openly gay player NFL history 2021.

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

-- 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. In this story:Jacksonville JaguarsJaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen beme the first publicly-known male ach Amerin men’s profsnal sports to e out as gay Thursday.Maxen spoke wh Outsports to share his journey and why he’s choosg to e out publicly.“I don’t want to feel like I have to thk about anymore,” Maxen said.

I want to be vol support of people livg how they want to live, but I also want to jt live and not feel fear about how people will react.”Maxen, who has been wh his partner Nick for over two years, exprsed that the ntued support om the people around him helped him feel fortable to share his news.“It wasn’t until recently—and wh the immense love and support of my fay, my iends, lleagu and peers, and the urage and sacrifice om my partner—that I realized I have the right and rponsibily to love and be loved, and that maybe sharg this will hopefully give someone else the strength to accept their own life and take ntrol of their own story,” Maxen said.Maxen also noted that he reached out to Carl Nassib, who is the only known gay NFL player the league right now, back Feb. The NFL has played for more than 100 years and there have been 16 gay or bi players to e out publicly.

16 and the first one to e out as gay while on an active roster.

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

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.

In June, Carl Nassib of the Rairs me out as gay. Maxen origally ntacted gay NFL player Carl Nassib Febary 2022, who then nnected Maxen wh Outsports. Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player to be drafted when the then-St.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR U.S. PRO LEAGUE TO E OUT AS GAY

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTRairs’ Carl Nassib Announc He’s Gay, an N. FirstThe Rairs fensive leman me out a statement posted to his Instagram acunt on Monday, beg the first active player the league to publicly intify as gay.

ViotranscripttranscriptCarl Nassib Be First Openly Gay Active N. I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay.

Player to publicly clare that he is gay. “I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay, ” Nassib said a vio posted to his Instagram acunt. I actually hope that like one day vios like this and the whole g-out procs are jt not necsary, but until then I’m gog to do my bt and my part to cultivate a culture that’s acceptg, that’s passnate, ” before addg that he would donate $100, 000 to The Trevor Project, a nonprof group that foc on suici preventn efforts among lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer and qutng youth.

RAIRS’ CARL NASSIB ANNOUNC HE’S GAY, AN N.F.L. FIRST

L., and mak him the first openly gay active player the league’s 101-year history.

“Sports are, many ways, one of the last bastns of a place where homophobia n thrive, ” said Cathy Renna, a spokwoman for the Natnal L.

NFL SHAR NEW VIO THAT SAYS ‘FOOTBALL IS GAY’

”Michael Sam, an all-Amerin fensive leman at Missouri, had been viewed as the most likely to acquire that distctn when he announced he is gay before he beg chosen by the Rams the seventh round of the 2014 N.

The Dallas Cowboys signed Sam to their practice squad, but he never played a regular season Otero/Associated PrsSam’s draft stat was seen as a barometer of whether the climate of men’s pro sports was beg more acceptg of gay athlet, particularly bee Febary 2014 the N. Had jt bee the first of the four tradnal major Amerin men’s sports leagu to have an openly gay active player when Jason Colls joed the Sam left the N.

THERE HAVE BEEN 11 KNOWN GAY PLAYERS NFL HISTORY

Players had prevly announced publicly that they were gay, but all after their playg reers were over. David Kopay beme the first pro football player to publicly e out as gay 1975, three years after he retired.

THE GAY NFL SUPERSTARS

He played for ne seasons wh the San Francis 49ers and four other teams the 1960s and 1970s, and has sce bee an activist and an ambassador for the Gay Gam, a quadrennial sportg Simmons was the send former player to announce that he was gay, dog so 1992 after his reer wh the Giants and Washgton Football Team had end.

Simmons also said he never would have clared himself gay durg the four seasons he played for the N. ”In recent years, the league has publicly supported Pri Month through promotnal efforts like changg official social media avatars to clu rabows and supportg the You Can Play Project, which provis rourc to enurage clivy youth sports, even as some players have ma rogatory statements about gay people wh ltle penalty or supported groups that oppose gay Wewerka for The New York TimIn 2013, Chris Culliver of the San Francis 49ers and Chris Clemons of the Seattle Seahawks ma offensive ments when asked about the prospect of havg a gay teammate.

“Got no gay people on the team, ” Culliver said. ”San Francis nng back Garrison Hearst apologized 2002 for g a slur and sayg he wouldn’t want a gay player as a teammate.

7 GAY NFL FOOTBALL PLAYERS

His ment me after the former Mnota Vikgs player Esera Tuaolo publicly me out as gay that year after he had retired. Players like Brendon Ayanbajo, who played wh the Baltimore Ravens, fend same-sex marriage and gay rights and supported Sam at the time.