Gay men in nfl

He learned he had the disease only after he was stabbed by a lover in He will be the first openly gay person to serve. Jenkins attended training camp with the Seattle Seahawks as a defensive back in The Raiders lineman made NFL history during Pride Month when he came out as gay in a heartfelt Instagram post, becoming the first active NFL player to come out as member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Here's all 14 of them, in order of when they played. Smith reportedly came out to his family in secret after retiring. Throughout the league's history, a number of former players have come out after hanging up their cleats.

He was "late" to a team meeting by coach Vince Lombardi's standards inand that cost him his job. He paved the way for other NFL players and football players at every level still living in the closet in fear of how their teammates and coaches will respond.

We know there are others in the league that are afraid to do the same. Progress is on the way, even if it takes time. Nassib was far from the first gay player to wear an NFL uniform, he's merely just the first one to come out while playing.

This is a list of notable, openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, and queer -identifying athletes associated with American Football, namely the NFL. This includes those who were posthumously outed. Ryan O'Callaghan, the former New England Patriots offensive lineman who came out after his career, has said that there is likely at least one closeted player on every roster.

Gay NFL Players The : Both men are also gay

When Nassib came out, Kopay told OutSports he was ecstatic to hear the news. He told The Washington Post 51 days before he died that he was battling the disease because he wanted some good to come from it.

He knows this because many of them have reached out to him. There have been 16 gay or bi players come out publicly in the NFL, which is in its th season. Washington's first-round pick inRay McDonald didn't have a lengthy career but had a tragic story.

List of LGBTQ American football players For a more in-depth discussion of the topic go here: Homosexuality in American Football. However, 32 of them said they had teammates or coaches use a homophobic slur and 25 said an openly gay player would feel comfortable in an NFL locker room.

He's now He's served as a Gay Games Ambassador. Yet for the third consecutive season, there will be none in Smith moved to Austin, Texas, in the s and opened a gay bar. Inhe was arrested for "having sex with a man in public. He's considered a gay pioneer after he came out to a newspaper inwhich made him the first pro team sport athlete to come out — not just in the NFL.

His autobiography, "The David Kopay Story," revealed many of his struggles and became a best-seller. His former teammate, David Kopay, revealed in his book that the two once had a fling, essentially outing Smith and confirming his sexuality.

They would do well to take notes from the great Vince Lombardi, who had a gay brother and once said to teammates of one of his gay players, "if I hear one of you people make reference to his manhood, you'll be out of here before your ass hits the ground.

It's only a matter of time before more embrace their sexualities in public. That stood as the position's all-time record by the time he retired.