Are there any gay football players in the nfl

He bounced around practice squads and in Canada, never making it onto an NFL regular-season roster. After playing for the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Las Vegas Raiders from to. Outsports breaks down the list of 16 players, who have openly come out publicly.

How many gay or bi-sexual players have played in the NFL over the past years? In all of this and more we see the growth. As a former player, I know the sacrifices that you have to make in order to be a professional player but also the commitments you make to stay at the top of your game.

What needs to change? Veteran pass rusher Carl Nassib, who in became the NFL's first openly gay player to play in a regular-season game, announced his retirement on Wednesday after seven seasons. And after coming out in , I never got another tryout, call, or interest from an NFL team.

The league, fans and teammates have shown support for gay and bisexual players. I was drafted in the fifth round in by the Dallas Cowboys, started several games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and had some terrific highlights in my time on the field. Carl Nassib came out as gay in and became the first-ever active player in the NFL to do so.

In the prime of his career at the age of 29, he is without a team. Image, societal norms and constructs, safety, family, friends, work and opportunities are often sacrificed for one to find the power and courage to come out. After Michael Sam told the world he was gay, he was drafted in the seventh round in , the lowest pick of any SEC defensive player of the year.

How many others in positions of power in the NFL pay lip service to inclusion but hold other opinions in private? When I became the first out active NFL player to identify as bisexual in August and I found myself without a team, I would have wanted someone to advocate for me.

The rigorous journey of coming out requires immense effort on top of the challenges of being an elite athlete. Is there a disconnect between the NFL as an organization and the individual teams and their owners? And instead of just focusing on the newsworthy-ness of their announcement, we should focus on how staff, fans, teammates, and people treat them when they do.

Time, family, friends, love, and other life-callings all take a backseat to your sport. The announcement today by former Patriots and Chiefs offensive lineman Ryan O’Callaghan that he is gay brings to seven the number of NFL known gay players in NFL history who have played in a.

So why is it so hard for us to remain doing the job we love? Carl Nassib was No. 16 and the first one to come out as gay while on an active roster. We have to make sure actions back up the works, promises, and social media posts. We need to be proactive and intentional in the organizations we build and support.

Fans and players appear to be evolving too. What is happening? In , Carl became the first NFL player on an active roster to come out as gay. We know the joy and love that will come when someone shares the truth of who they are, but we need to stop forcing our timelines and expectations on athletes when they already sacrifice so much.

Are we not getting the support we need after the whirlwind that comes with finally living our truth? Here's a list of players in college and pro football who have proved you can be gay or bi and still run the gauntlet. Running back Dave Kopay, who signed with the San Francisco 49ers in This is a list of notable, openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, and queer -identifying athletes associated with American Football, namely the NFL.

There have been 16 gay or bi players come out publicly in the NFL, which is in its th season. He went on to make several big-time plays, including a game-winning play on Monday Night Football for the Raiders against the Ravens … and was released in March.