Friend: Gay Redsks TE Jerry Smh ped wh 'horrendo existence'

Here's a list of gay players who ma to the end zone. * gay redskins tight end *

He was able to achieve notoriety on the field spe the challeng he enuntered off Smh was gay. "He was livg real fear, " says Smh's iend, David Mixner, who is also homosexual, "and really alone and terrified that he was gonna lose everythg. "No openly gay player has played the league, though several have discsed their orientatn upon retirement.

Smh's brother, Ed, says Jerry Smh didn't reveal his homosexualy to some were gnizant of Smh's secret while others spected . But Smh, who always guard his private life, would never speak to Kopay Redsks terviewed by NFL Films all ld Smh as an ial of Fame wiout Charley Taylor even suggts Washgton had a reputatn as a haven for gay players, and that there might have been as many as a dozen on the roster at one pot.

REMEMBERG JERRY SMH, A GAY NFL STAR WHO NEVER GOT HIS DUE

NFL Films cid to produce the documentary on Smh large part bee he was gay hop of creatg a ph to get him to the Hall Of Fame. * gay redskins tight end *

He ntends that though some players might not have red about Smh's private life, others would have opprsed him and ensured he lost his job had he e loved playg for Vce Lombardi, who had a gay brother and mand an atmosphere of tolerance the locker room. 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.

TONIGHT: NFL NETWORK PIECE ON JERRY SMH FULLY EMBRAC HIS GAYNS

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. Michael SamThe world took notice 2014 when All-Amerin fensive end Michael Sam me out as gay to ESPN while still llege.

CARL NASSIB IS OUT, BUT HE’S NOT THE FIRST GAY PLAYER THE NFL, OR EVEN WASHGTON

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. 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.

GAY HISTORY – SPORTS: AUGT 26, 1986: FORMER WASHGTON REDSKS FOOTBALL PLAYER JERRY SMH ANNOUNC HE HAS AIDS

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. 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.

Smh lived his whole life closeted and was one of the first known players to live a double life as an NFL star and a closeted gay athlete. Lombardi had a gay brother, and preached equaly and acceptance on his teams. Wh hundreds of NFL players, and zero openly gay players, is unfortunate to thk about the ia that someone is hidg their inty an NFL locker room.

DOCUMENTARY LV TO LIFE OF REDSKS TIGHT END JERRY SMH, A STAR WHO HID THAT HE WAS GAY

I hope that 30 years om now, we n look back on many succsful reers of openly gay NFL players. However, spe the fact that Jerry Smh did not live one day of his life as an openly gay man, his story is still important and he should be remembered. His story brought attentn to the fact that gay men n do anythg a straight man n, if not better.

Even today, his story eras the stigma and stereotype that gay men are feme. All of the men talk about Smh beg gay, how they found out, when they spected and when they knew. For many of the men, was the first time they had ever teracted wh a gay man.

DOCUMENTARY LV TO LIFE OF REDSKS TIGHT END JERRY SMH, A STAR WHO HID THAT HE WAS GAY

"If Jerry smh hadn't been gay, i thk his story would have been better celebrated over time, " Schmidt told Outsports.

TONIGHT: NFL NETWORK PIECE ON JERRY SMH FULLY EMBRAC HIS GAYNS

"Bee he was gay and how he died, he's a fotten guy. Schmidt said NFL Films was embedd wh the 1971 Redsks, but they have prec ltle footage of Smh bee he always ran om the meras, a closeted gay man hopg to avoid attentn and qutns about his personal life.

7 GAY NFL FOOTBALL PLAYERS

It's hard to unrstand why Smh isn't the Hall of Fame, if not bee he was gay and, eventually, died of AIDS. Archival footage shows then-NFL head of secury Jack Danahy equatg homosexuals to spi and lkg pnage to them.

David Kopay, the first pro athlete to e out publicly, is also promently featured, along wh journalist Lynn Roselli, whom Smh nfid his sexual orientatn for an anonymo 1975 story on homophobia sports. As wh so many gay stori om the Seventi, this one ends tragilly. It's mt-see TV for NFL fans and anyone terted the history of the bt NFL player we know was gay.

But was also the era of AIDS, and the outsized effect that horrible disease was havg on the gay muny. So while, generally speakg, discsns of homosexualy weren’t had among “pole pany” - at least the (admtedly small) circl I traveled at that pot - the sensatnal arrival of AIDS did have the impact of forcg society to adm gay people existed, and that they were all around . I don’t rell exactly what precipated the nversatn - at the time my father certaly wasn't a leadg lumary of gay advocy (he was, and remas more of a “live and let live” type) - but 1983 or 1984, talkg about the Redsks of yore, among stori of Gee Allen and Charlie Taylor, my dad mentned a legendary tight end for the Redsks, who probably didn’t get the regnn he served bee he was wily thought to be gay.

JERRY SMH, FORMER GAY NFL PLAYER, SERVED BETTER

“He was livg real fear, ” says Smh’s iend, David Mixner, who is also homosexual, “and really alone and terrified that he was gonna lose everythg.

Friend: Gay Redsks TE Jerry Smh ped wh 'horrendo existence'

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