A lot of guys still see it as potentially having a negative impact on their career. The former offensive tackle kept his sexual orientation secret from the time he was drafted by the Patriots in through his tenure with the Chiefs which ended in Soccer player Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay athlete actively playing in U. The NFL has yet to see an openly gay player on the field, and fewer than 10have come out in retirement. The first was David Kopay, now 77, who opened up about his sexuality in , three years after retiring. In , player Michael Sam opened up about being gay before being drafted to the St.

A Gay Football Player, 'Alone in the Trenches'



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It was weird. It is league policy not to inquire about sexual orientation in the hiring process, because doing so is plainly discriminatory and is against equal opportunity employment law in many states. But NFL prospects have little real recourse. Thanks to the NFL draft, rookies are limited to negotiating their initial contract with just one team. And anybody who made any sort of formal complaint or took the league to court would likely find themselves blacklisted from the game. Avoiding the combine is hardly a solution, either — it has become a huge part of the machine that funnels amateur talent from the college ranks to the NFL , and very few talents can afford to skip it and maintain their draft stock.


Homosexuality in American football
There are almost certainly more than a few gay players currently in the NFL, and Aaron Rodgers understands why they are afraid to reveal their sexual orientation publicly. I think society is finally moving in the right direction, as far as treating all people with respect and love and acceptance and appreciation. And the locker room, I think the sport is getting closer.



Retired NFL linebacker Jeff Rohrer is gay and set to become the first former or current NFL player in a same-sex marriage, he revealed in a new interview published on Wednesday. In the New York Times story , Rohrer, 59, opened up about his sexuality for the first time. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys after college and played for the Texas team from to