Kev Maxen be first male ach a US men’s pro sports league to publicly e out as gay | CNN

Contents:

• IN 101 NFL SEASONS THERE HAS NEVER BEEN AN OPENLY GAY PLAYER
• IN POWERFUL REBE OF HATE, JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN MAK HISTORY G OUT AS GAY
• JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE NFL ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• 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
• NFL ACH BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR U.S. MEN’S PRO SPORTS TO E OUT AS GAY
• MEET THE 16 OUT GAY AND BI FOOTBALL PLAYERS THE NFL’S 103-YEAR HISTORY
• TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY
• NFL PROUDLY CLAR 'FOOTBALL IS GAY' NEW VIO
• RAIRS’ CARL NASSIB ANNOUNC HE’S GAY, AN N.F.L. FIRST
• KEV MAXEN JT BEME THE FIRST MALE ACH MEN'S PRO SPORTS TO E OUT AS GAY. HE SAID HE DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO 'LIE' OR 'FEEL FEAR' ABOUT HIS PERSONAL LIFE ANYMORE.
• AIN AMERIN GAY MEN LEAD THE WAY SPORTS
• CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ACTIVE NFL PLAYER, ULD BE TURNG POT FOR MALE SPORTS
• BY G OUT, CARL NASSIB LIKELY IMPROVED NFL FANS’ ATTUS TOWARD GAY MEN. HERE’S HOW WE KNOW.
• THE GAY NFL SUPERSTARS
• FIRST-PERSON: GAY MEN THE NFL
• GAY MEN THE NFL

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.

-- 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 suatns.It'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."I don't want to feel like I have to thk about anymore," Maxen said the piece published Thursday afternoon. Outsi lebacker Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay and to play a game 2021.The Associated Prs ntributed to this report.

IN POWERFUL REBE OF HATE, JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN MAK HISTORY G OUT AS GAY

What Kev Maxen has done, g out as gay, makg him what's believed to be the first publicly out male ach major Amerin men’s profsnal sports, is brave enough. 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.

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. 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.

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

”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. Over the years, Outsports has known of a few other players who are gay but have never e out, even when retired. The purpose of this list is to go a b more pth about some of the mors that are surroundg the players, not to nvce the rear that the athlet are gay.

In fact, as society is now much more open to people no matter their orientatn, we have seen a ton more athlet, both active and retired, e out and adm that they are homosexuals, and 's absolutely a great thg. This list will look at some of the most high profile exampl of pro athlet who have had mors about beg gay surroundg them, but aga, none of those are nfirmed and even if they were nfirmed, they would be somethg to celebrate. His ex-wife has acced him of beg gay and that Dunn’s lover om llege actually lived wh them for the first few years of their marriage.

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

Qutns about Aikman's sexual orientatn have been around for s and the mor was started by Skip Bayls, when, his book, he stated that Troy Aikman might be gay. "In whe letters on a black background, the word "gay" was then replaced wh words cludg "lbian, " "betiful, " "queer, " "transgenr, " "power" and "life.

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

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 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.

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

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

Kev Maxen, an associate strength ach wh the Jacksonville Jaguars, jt publicly me out as gay, makg him the first-ever male ach Amerin profsnal men's sports to do so.

TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY

“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.

NFL PROUDLY CLAR 'FOOTBALL IS GAY' NEW VIO

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.

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

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

KEV MAXEN JT BEME THE FIRST MALE ACH MEN'S PRO SPORTS TO E OUT AS GAY. HE SAID HE DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO 'LIE' OR 'FEEL FEAR' ABOUT HIS PERSONAL LIFE ANYMORE.

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. On June 21, Las Vegas Rairs fensive leman Carl Nassib me out publicly, makg him the first openly gay player for the Natnal Football League.

The subsequent headle implied somethg more posive: that an otherwise stereotypil NFL player n also be openly gay, that beg gay is not patible wh beg a succsful profsnal athlete the hypermascule sport of Amerin football. By and large, gay athlet have stayed closeted major sports like football and hockey, part to avoid llg to qutn their masculy, and by associatn, their athletic abily. What’s more, havg an openly gay male player a hypermascule sport like profsnal football n e some gnive dissonance for male fans.

AIN AMERIN GAY MEN LEAD THE WAY SPORTS

Rearch suggts that when Amerin heterosexual men try to rencile their beliefs that gay men are weak and effemate wh beliefs about football players as pnacl of masculy and strength, men n qutn their own masculy — which has a boomerang effect, leadg them to be more hostile toward and opposed to LGBTQ rights.

For example, 2015, polil scientist Carmen Martínez and lleagu found that anti-gay prejudice helped Amerin men affirm their masculy by distancg themselv om men who vlate genr norms. In their 2017 book “The Conundm of Masculy, ” polil scientist Chris Haywood and -thors found that several aspects of ntemporary Amerin masculy rerce one another, cludg homosocialy (or socializg wh other men) and antigay attus. When masculy is important to an Amerin man’s self-ncept, any threat to his sense of masculy mak him more likely to hold anti-gay and anti-trans attus, soclogist Robb Willer and -thors fd.

The difference is statistilly Nassib’s announcement mattersOur rearch suggts that when men are reassured about their masculy, they are more open to supportg gay and transgenr rights. G., a pro-gay rights profsnal football player) are more likely to say that they agree wh that msenger’s support for those rights. Nassib’s announcement should move fans of the Rairs and of NFL players general to be more supportive of gay rights.

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

It might also move football fans to see gay men as ls of a threat to masculy by severg the lk between profsnal football and heterosexual orientatn. Atralian A-League soccer star Josh Cavallo me out as gay an October vio posted to his social media, beg hailed as the first current male top-flight profsnal soccer player to publicly do so.

"He ntued: "Growg up I always felt the need to hi myself, you know, bee I was ashamed, and ashamed I'll never be able to do what I love and be gay. In a September terview wh USA Today, 25-year-old mor league baseball player beme the only active baseball profsnal to be out as gay! The 28-year-old Natnal Football League player and Rairs fensive leman ma history when he me out as gay on Instagram durg Pri Month, beg the first veteran NFL player to e out as gay while signed to a regular-season ntract.

BY G OUT, CARL NASSIB LIKELY IMPROVED NFL FANS’ ATTUS TOWARD GAY MEN. HERE’S HOW WE KNOW.

The Bachelor star and former football player (who was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted ee agent and was on the practice squad of the Oakland Rairs and the Philalphia Eagl) me out as gay April, sayg he had fally e to terms wh his sexualy and the "next step all of this was sort of lettg people know. Corey Walsh, the 27-year-old pro BMX rir and Vans spokperson, said he isn't normally the type of person to "let people " on his personal life, but felt was important to e out as gay a March Instagram post bee "there are a lot of people still stgglg wh the same suatns" and he "jt wanted to let people know that they are not alone.

Champn long track speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy never hid beg gay om his fay, iends, and fellow athlet, but he also wasn't one to rate his locker wh rabow Pri flags eher. He ially feared negative stereotyp about gay male athlet but threw those ncerns asi after his two-tle performance at the U.

THE GAY NFL SUPERSTARS

[Bld Gossip] We’ve n several bld ems over the years about Natnal Football League athlet who want to e out of the closet as gay men. However, a Super Bowl champn is now acknowledgg that not only are there many gay men the NFL… but that some of them are bona fi superstars!

Some of the biggt stars the NFL are gay… they’re jt not ready to e out publicly yet… so says Super Bowl champ-turned-LGBT activist Brendon Ayanbajo. Let’s face … none of the NFL players who have e out have really been top tier guys — so we asked Brendon if we’ll ever see an openly gay man achieve that hoehold name regnn… a la Peyton, Brady, Watt, etc.

FIRST-PERSON: GAY MEN THE NFL

One thg to note, se you’re thkg NFL players are big homophobic jocks, by 2013 we had intified 62 players who were ol wh . New England Patrts signed pro-marriage-equaly amic briefThe Patrts, led by owner Robert Kraft, were the only NFL team to sign an amic brief supportg the ultimate cisn by SCOTUS to legalize gay marriage.

NFL clud sex between men as part of AIDS awarens for playersThe league realiz that not all s players are only to women and clud gay sex s 2015 AIDS Awarens rmatn.

People across the NFL share public support for Michael Sam g outMany people across the NFL, cludg current and former players, shared msag of support Michael Sam when he me out publicly as gay.

GAY MEN THE NFL

Louis Rams drafted Michael SamWhen the Rams drafted Sam 2014, cleared another hurdle for gay athlet lookg to play openly the league.

Michael Irv appeared on Out magaze ver and talks about his gay brotherHall of Fame Cowboys wi receiver Irv didn’t shy away om his opportuny on the ver of gay magaze ‘Out’ when he and I talked about dog an article about him and his support for his gay brother, Vghn, 2011. Commissner Roger Gooll has been open about havg a gay brotherHavg gay fay members is a powerful tool shapg how people view LGBT people, and Gooll has spoken repeatedly about his gay brother, Michael.