Why There Few Openly Gay Athlet In Men's Profsnal Sports : NPR

us footballer gay

Two athlet recently g out has highlighted the arth of openly gay players the world of U.S. men's profsnal sports, often dubbed "the last closet" for s lack of LGBTQ reprentatn.

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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. * us footballer 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.

NFL: CARL NASSIB BE FIRST ACTIVE PLAYER TO E OUT AS GAY

Las Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib be the first active NFL player to e out as gay. * us footballer gay *

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. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTRairs’ Carl Nassib Announc He’s Gay, an N.F.L. 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.F.L.

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.“Sadly, I have agonized over this moment for the last 15 years,” he wrote the same post.Nassib, a five-year N.F.L. Players Associatn also said a Twter post that he and the unn supported Nassib.Nassib’s announcement, ma durg Pri Month, is a signifint turng pot for the N.F.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.G.B.T.Q.

Athlet who me before him.”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.F.L.

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

Carl Nassib of the NFL's Las Vegas rairs out as first gay football player — and uld be a turng pot for LGBTQ players male sports * us footballer gay *

The Dallas Cowboys signed Sam to their practice squad, but he never played a regular season game.ImageCred...LM 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.B.A.

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

Carl Nassib is the first to ever play a down as openly gay, but the rt are still trailblazers. * us footballer gay *

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 Nets.But Sam left the N.F.L.

Players had prevly announced publicly that they were gay, but all after their playg reers were over.

THREE GAY FOOTBALL PLAYERS FEATURED NFL NETWORK SEGMENT ON CARL NASSIB

‘NFL 360’ profil five LGBTQ people wh a sports background, cludg three openly gay football players, on the impact of Nassib g out. * us footballer gay *

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

Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen has e out as gay * us footballer gay *

Simmons said he cultivated a reputatn for beg the life of the party, and had to partmentalize his football life and his personal life.Simmons also said he never would have clared himself gay durg the four seasons he played for the N.F.L. You are gladiators; you are male; you kick butt.”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 rights.ImageCred...Steve 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.

They were very ugly ments.”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.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH COACH COM OUT AS GAY IN A FIRST FOR U.S.-BASED PRO LEAGU

Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen has e out as gay. His announcement is a first for a male ach a major U.S.-based profsnal league. * us footballer gay *

Players like Brendon Ayanbajo, who played wh the Baltimore Ravens, fend same-sex marriage and gay rights and supported Sam at the time. Las Vegas Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib has bee the first active NFL player to e out as gay. Defensive end Michael Sam me out as gay before he was drafted by the St Louis Rams 2014 and played for them the pre-season, but did not make their fal roster.

Former LA Galaxy and USA footballer Robbie Rogers beme the first openly gay man to play one of the USA's big five sports leagu when he me out Febary is about to enter his sixth season the NFL, havg been a third-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns then had a two-year spell wh the Tampa Bay Bucneers before signg a three-year al wh the Rairs March may also be terted out at 90 years old... To my gay dghterGet entangled wh Spooks: The explosive MI5 seri is streamg nowThe very bt of Top Gear: Relive Paddy, Freddie and Chris' wilst adventur.

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

Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen has e out as gay. * us footballer 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.

'GO GAYS!': WHY USA'S LGBTQ WORLD CUP STARS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER

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. * us footballer gay *

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. In 2014, Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player to be drafted by an NFL team, when the St. (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.

““In llege, football was a great ver for beg gay, ” O’Callaghan told Outsports 2017.

GAY OR BISEXUAL PLAYERS ON EVERY PRO FOOTBALL TEAM, SAYS FORMER U.S. FOOTBALLER

Wh homophobic attus on the rise the US, the explos of gay Amerin hero on the pch France are a wele sight * us footballer gay *

” 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 NFL has played for more than 100 years and there have been 16 gay or bi players to e out publicly. Over the years, Outsports has known of a few other players who are gay but have never e out, even when retired.

NFL SAYS 'FOOTBALL IS GAY' NEW MERCIAL THAT MAK CLEAR S SUPPORT OF LGBTQ+ MUNY

Every U.S. Natnal Football League team has at least one gay or bisexual player, acrdg to openly gay former player Ryan O'Callaghan, but they fear backlash for g out cludg losg sponsorships or even their place on the roster. * us footballer gay *

Jenks is gay and this was the the first time he wily discsed his sexual orientatn. The subject was the impact of Carl Nassib g out as gay the NFL for the Las Vegas Rairs. Matea offensive leman Jake Strer, who is gay, is one of five current or former LGBTQ athlet profiled.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS

Jacksonville Jaguars ach Kev Maxen, who joed the team last year, me out publicly as gay an terview wh Outsports published on Thursday, beg the first ach a U.S. men’s profsnal league to do so" emprop="scriptn * us footballer gay *

“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. “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.

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. Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen has e out as gayFILE - Kev Maxen of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL football team pos for a photo June 2021.

Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player to be drafted when the then-St. 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.

NFL PROUDLY CLAR 'FOOTBALL IS GAY' NEW VIO

The Natnal Football League clared, "Football is gay," a vio shared on Twter on Monday rponse to player Carl Nassib's g out. * us footballer gay *

" 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.

WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS

* us footballer gay *

“You n’t w a champnship whout gays on your team - ’s never been done before, ever. But for me, to be gay and fabulo, durg Pri month at the World Cup, is nice.

COLTON UNRWOOD, ‘BACHELOR’ STAR, COM OUT AS GAY

Teammat Tierna Davidson, Adrianna Franch, Ashlyn Harris, and Ali Krieger are all out as gay or bisexual, as are dozens of players on other teams. Durg the 2018 tournament, two fans were btally beaten an anti-gay attack and at least one gay rights activist was arrted for prottg outsi the Kreml. In Qatar, homosexualy is illegal and punishable by up to seven years prison.

Unrstandably, may be hard for players to feel as though the anizatn tly has their 2015, Robbie Rogers, the first active Major League Soccer player to e out as gay, wrote an op-ed for USA Today nouncg FIFA’s cisn to embrace LGBTQ-hostile untri like Rsia and Qatar. “If actns speak lour than words, then the msage FIFA sends to gay athlet is pafully clear, ” wrote Rogers. Natnal Football League team has at least one gay or bisexual player, acrdg to openly gay former player Ryan O’Callaghan, but they fear backlash for g out cludg losg sponsorships or even their place on the publicly sharg his sexual orientatn 2017, O’Callaghan said he regularly hears om closeted current profsnal football players.

8 MALE FOOTBALL PLAYERS WHO DARED TO COME OUT AS GAY

“I thk ’s safe to say there’s at least one on every team who is eher gay or bisexual.

Male sports leagu, progrs has been player Robbie Rogers beme the first openly gay athlete actively playg U. Major league sports 2013, followed later that year by basketball player Jason NFL has yet to see an openly gay player on the field, and fewer than 10 have e out first was David Kopay, now 77, who opened up about his sexualy 1975, three years after retirg.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* US FOOTBALLER GAY

NFL: Carl Nassib be first active player to e out as gay - BBC Sport .

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