Josh Cavallo is one of the few male top-level footballers to e out as gay : NPR

Contents:

• CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY N.F.L. PLAYER, HAS BEEN A FOOTBALL EVERYMAN
• RAIRS’ CARL NASSIB ANNOUNC HE’S GAY, AN N.F.L. FIRST
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE NFL ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• GIANT MURAL ON NORWICH PUB HONOURS JT FASHANU, ENGLAND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLER
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• CARL NASSIB IS THE FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO COME OUT AS GAY
• CARL NASSIB OF LAS VEGAS RAIRS IS FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO ANNOUNCE HE IS GAY
• JT FASHANU: THE FIRST OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLER AND WHY HE IS NOW THE HALL OF FAME
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS KEV MAXEN BE FIRST PROFSNAL MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE NFL PLAYER, ULD BE TURNG POT FOR MALE SPORTS
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU
• JAKE DANIELS BE FIRST UK MALE FOOTBALLER TO E OUT AS GAY SCE 1990
• JOSH CAVALLO BE ONE OF THE FEW PROFSNAL MEN'S FOOTBALLERS TO E OUT AS GAY
• 8 MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO DARED TO COME OUT AS GAY
• JAKE DANIELS: BLACKPOOL FORWARD BE UK'S FIRST ACTIVE MALE PROFSNAL FOOTBALLER TO E OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

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

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.

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. Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Jt Fashanu was brought up by foster parents a village near Attleborough Norfolk and signed for Norwich Cy aged 17Exactly 30 years ago, footballer Jt Fashanu h the headl as the first profsnal player to e out as gay.

Growg up foster re Norfolk alongsi his footballer brother John, he had risen through Norwich Cy's youth majtic strike agast Liverpool 1980 was Match of the Day's Goal of the Season, cementg his legendary stat among Canari ptn, Jt Fashanu's subdued goal celebratn saw him raise his x fger before beg hugged by team-matThen, 1990, Fashanu stunned the football world when he told a newspaper he was gay. Welsh gby unn star Gareth Thomas me out 2009, and ex-footballers Thomas Beattie and Robbie Rogers went public about their sexualy after leavg the to be a gay footballer the ele leagu was still a "major issue", she said.

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

"It's always been that powerful, secretive, dark world where there's no place for anyone weaker and a lot of people see if you're gay, you'd be weaker. "Focg on the absence of openly gay and bi male profsnal football players often adds more prsure to what is already a high-strs environment. 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.

“I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay, ” Nassib said a vio posted to his Instagram acunt.

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

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. “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. ”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.

David Kopay beme the first pro football player to publicly e out as gay 1975, three years after he retired. 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.

JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE NFL ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

”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. ”San Francis nng back Garrison Hearst apologized 2002 for g a slur and sayg he wouldn’t want a gay player as a teammate.

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.

GIANT MURAL ON NORWICH PUB HONOURS JT FASHANU, ENGLAND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLER

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 2014.The 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 preventn.Las 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. 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 rights.Though 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 Sam.His 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.

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

NFL Commissner Roger Gooll released a supportive statement credg Nassib for “urageoly sharg his tth.”Nassib’s announcement left many — om former NFL players to sports journalists, fans and ach — cg Sam’s story, suggtg his cisn to e out 2014 paved the way for the latt trailblazer.“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 out.Many retired NFL players have publicly intified as gay, begng wh Dave Kopay, who me out 1975, three years after leavg the sport. Per Outsports, as of September 2022, there have only ever been 16 players NFL history to publicly e out as gay or bisexual.

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. 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 that ma him angry — at himself. 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 was Nassib who put Maxen ntact wh Outsports.

A giant mural of England's first openly gay footballer has been unveiled on the si of a Fashanu remas the only male profsnal player to nfirm he was homosexual - amid fears he would be "outed" by a natnal newspaper 1990 - and was ducted to the footballg Hall of Fame spe now beg seen as an spiratn the fight agast homophobia and discrimatn sport, the proud Canary took his own life 1998 - wrg his suici note that beg gay and a personaly was "so hard" former Norwich Cy striker, who beme the UK's first black £1m player when he was sold to Nottgham Fort, ntu to be seen as a legend at the Norfolk Champnship "wonr strike" agast Liverpool at Carrow Road 1980 went on to w Match of the Day's goal of the season now his face has taken pri of place on the si of a Canari supporters pub. A mural of former Norwich Cy player Jt Fashanu, England's first openly gay footballer, has appeared on the Fat Cat and Canary.

CARL NASSIB IS THE FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO COME OUT AS GAY

There was a lot of homophobia the prs and media and he was hound for the fact that he me out as beg 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.

Carl Nassib Is The First Active NFL Player To Come Out As Gay "I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay, " he said an Instagram vio. Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib said on Monday that he would not have been able to publicly e out as gay whout the support of the NFL and his teammat. " "I jt want to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay, " Nassib said an Instagram vio he posted on his verified Instagram acunt.

" Nassib is by no means the first gay football player the NFL, but he is the first openly gay active player the league to play the regular season. Michael Sam me out as gay followg his succsful llege reer and before the 2014 NFL draft, makg him the first publicly gay player to be drafted the NFL. Carl Nassib, a fensive leman wh the Las Vegas Rairs, beme the first active NFL player league history to announce that he is gay.

CARL NASSIB OF LAS VEGAS RAIRS IS FIRST ACTIVE NFL PLAYER TO ANNOUNCE HE IS GAY

He said a statement acpanyg the vio that he had agonized over the cisn to announce he was gay for 15 years. Jason Colls, who beme the first openly gay NBA player when he sued up for the Brooklyn Nets 2014, was cheerg Nassib on social media. “As an acplished athlete who is now the first out gay active player the NFL, Carl Nassib’s story will not only have a profound impact on the future of LGBTQ visibily and acceptance sports, but sends a strong msage to so many LGBTQ people, pecially youth, that they too n one day grow up to be and succeed as a profsnal athlete like him, ” the statement said.

JT FASHANU: THE FIRST OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLER AND WHY HE IS NOW THE HALL OF FAME

Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Moon add to the chos of people proud of him, and the former NFL and CFL quarterback add that he played wh some guys who were gay but didn’t feel fortable g out. His cisn to e out publicly - an era when even his own ach cricised him for attendg gay clubs - has been an spiratn beyond the world of football. But nearly a later, ultimately me at a tragic price - Fashanu took his own life, wrg his suici note that beg gay and a personaly "is so hard" the first black man to tra football clubs for a fee of £1 ln, Fashanu is remembered by many to be a trailblazer English football for more than one reason.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS KEV MAXEN BE FIRST PROFSNAL MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Cred: PAA promisg young striker, Fashanu imprsed as part of the Norwich Cy amy and signed his first profsnal ntract December 1978, aged a month - and jt before he turned 18 - he was ma his first league appearance for Norwich and would tablish himself as a regular John Bond's young forward's eye for goals soon ught the attentn of bigger clubs, wh his stunng volley agast Liverpool voted Goal of the Season strike is still nsired one of the bt goals ever sred at Carrow Road, Norwich Cy's home are more female footballers openly gay or bisexual than male players? Cred: PAA clearly talented player, Fashanu's reer perhaps should have clud more trophi, goals and England potential was certaly curtailed by football's - and society's - unwillgns to accept Fashanu's sexualy, even before he publicly me 's said that Clough, nsired one of the greatt managers of all time, did not take kdly to Fashanu's his tobgraphy, he looks back at a time he nonted the young striker after mours he spent time gay bars.

Cred: PAOn October 22, 1990, he told the world the tth an terview wh The Sun, which ran wh the headle: "£1m Football Star: I AM GAY. Cred: PAFashanu is nsired by many the game as a the first black man to mand a seven-figure fee and the first profsnal footballer to e out as gay, he broke through two ceilgs at a time football hooliganism was at s this day, he is still the only profsnal top-level footballer to e out publicly Jt Fashanu Foundatn, found by his niece Amal, works to nont prejudice wh football, supports those sufferg wh mental health issu and has a special foc on the LGBT Fashanu spoke of her uncle's admissn to the Hall of Fame. “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.

And while someone g out 2021 might not feel like a big al, wh that simple statement, Nassib beme the first openly gay active player NFL that simple statement, Nassib beme the first openly gay active player NFL history. Though there are many openly queer women profsnal sports, the same nnot be said for homophobia of men’s sports culture has been well documented. Currently, there is only one openly gay player on a profsnal men’s team the “big five” Amerin sports: Soccer player Coll Mart of the USL Champnship League (Mart me out 2018 as a member of Major League Soccer’s Mnota Uned) NFL has existed for 101 years, and that time, there has never been a player on an active NFL roster who has publicly acknowledged his gayns.

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

(In 2015, he beme the first openly gay player the Canadian Football League when he spent a season wh the Montreal Alouett.

To be a gay man is to face beg stereotyped as weak or effemate — the oppose of what a football player, or an athlete, is “supposed” to be. ” Davis remembers spendg $1, 500 at a strip club an attempt to nceal the fact that he was gay om his spe society’s evolvg attus, the sports world seems to be movg far slower to mornize and stigmatize. “I thk ’s safe to say there’s at least one on every team who is eher gay or bisexual, ” O’Callaghan speculated 2019.

The Blackpool forward Jake Daniels has end s of silence wh men’s football to bee the first player the UK to e out as gay sce Jt Fashanu 1990. Photograph: Pl Dennis/TGS Photo/ShutterstockDaniels’s revelatn is a strikg landmark that when men’s football is more engaged wh social issu than any recent time, but still unable to ce progrs LGBTQ reprentatn wh the year Alai Uned’s Josh Cavallo beme the only male top-flight profsnal footballer the world to e out as gay, but others are yet to follow. In six months the men’s World Cup will be played Qatar, where homosexualy is illegal, and Cavallo revealed to the Guardian he would be “sred” to play at the tournament, the pnacle of world English football specifilly, the shadow of the talented and unfulfilled Fashanu still lgers over the game.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

The England ternatnal me out at the end of his reer and was to take his own life eight years later, Fashanu, Jt’s niece, who ns a charable foundatn his name, said that Daniels’s cisn would “e as a huge fort to the many footballers at all levels of the game still secretly livg as gay and who still feel unable to e out”.

Atralian footballer Josh Cavallo has e out as gay, beg one of the few profsnal men's soccer players the world to do so. Ashamed I would never be able to do what I love and be gay, hidg who I really am to pursue a dream I always wished for as a kid. Soccer player for the San Diego Loyal, me out publicly as gay 2018 when he was playg for the Mnota Uned.

JAKE DANIELS BE FIRST UK MALE FOOTBALLER TO E OUT AS GAY SCE 1990

Male profsnal athlet e out as the first openly gay players currently participatg their rpective sports, cludg NHL hockey player Le Prokop and NFL fensive end Carl Nassib. But tak guts to e out and reveal one’s genr as gay, which is ually an act of urage a world that is not ndned to accept every genr. Even though has already been three s sce Jt Fashanu first publicly me out as gay, there are only a few of them revealg .

JOSH CAVALLO BE ONE OF THE FEW PROFSNAL MEN'S FOOTBALLERS TO E OUT AS GAY

The primary reason behd many gay footballers not revealg their sexualy publicly is fear of homophobia on and off the pch.

So, many profsnal leagu, teams, and players are raisg their voic to fight back agast homophobia so that gay footballers don’t face backlash while g out. In 2020, durg the San Diego Loyal match agast Phoneix Risg FC, Mart released a story of homophobic sults directed toward him.

One of the hight-profile male football players publicly clarg himself as gay is German footballer Thomas Hzlsperger. Anton Hysen is the youngt son of retired Swedish footballer Glenn Hysen and one of the gay players football.

8 MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO DARED TO COME OUT AS GAY

Later, he was profiled on Swedish broadstg channel TV4 March 2011 a bate show (Can gays play football too? Likewise, he also participated the 7th edn of the realy TV show Lets Dance and beme the first-ever gay to w the ntt. Later, on 22nd October 1990, The Sun Tabloid newspaper published the headle “£1m Football Star: I AM GAY”.

Likewise, The Jt Fashanu All-stars football special event started Brighton to honor him and promote homosexualy football. In June 2020, former profsnal footballer Tomas Beattie me out as gay durg an Amerin sports channel ESPN terview.

JAKE DANIELS: BLACKPOOL FORWARD BE UK'S FIRST ACTIVE MALE PROFSNAL FOOTBALLER TO E OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

Furthermore, he is one of the send Brish football players to publicly e out as gay after Jt Fashanu did 30 years ago. Therefore, a suable environment should be created through tn as a drivg factor, so gay footballers don’t feel prsured to reveal their sexualy. Perkz/@rlnassib/@rkrelentls)When Kansas State offensive tackle and NFL hopeful Stt Frantz me out to the natn as gay, 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.

Roy "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.