In June 2021, NFL player Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to come out as gay while playing with the Las Vegas Raiders. And Carl Nassib thus became the first openly gay player in the first game of the season, in September 2021. Later, in 2022, Nassib played in a playoff game thus becoming the first openly gay person to do so in that one game.
But Carl Nassib was not actually the first to come out as gay while a player. The first openly gay player was Michael Sam who was drafted by the St Louis Rams in 2014. But he was later released in a final round of cuts due to the National Football League-required restriction of only 53 players. Michael Sam went on to play in the Canadian Football League.
Have there been other gay NFL players? Yes, absolutely. But they have only come out as gay after they retired.
Gay NFL Players
By no means a complete list, below are a number of gay NFL players.
Dave Kopay
Kopay played high school and college football before being picked up by San Francisco. He played running back for 5 NFL teams during his career – San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints, and Green Bay Packers, before retiring in 1972. He came out during an interview with the Washington Star in 1975. He had dreams of coaching but was never offered a contract, due, he believed, to his being gay. Today, he is a strong advocate for LGBTQ rights.
He also revealed, later in life, that he had had a brief affair with Jerry Smith, a tight end for the Washington Redskins for 13 seasons. Jerry Smith ultimately died of AIDS.
Ryan Russell
After playing high school and college ball, Ryan Russell was picked up by the Dallas Cowboys as a defensive tackle. He didn’t excel during training camp, was on the injured list for most of his first season, struggled during the second pre-season, was released, and was signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad. He played 8 games the 2016 season and was not re-signed.
As a free agent, Russell signed with the Buffalo Bills in 2018. A shoulder injury prevented play for that season, and he hung it up. Even though his NFL career was cut short, Russell has found other purposes.
Ryan Russell is an excellent writer, and he came out as bisexual in an essay he penned for ESPN in 2019. Since then, he has written a number of articles in support of the LGBTQ community and in opposition to the anti-trans laws being passed in a number of states and encouraging LGBTQ youth to follow their dreams of playing in national sports or any other goals they wish to achieve.
Martin Jenkins
Martin Jenkins played defensive back for Santa Clara University and then signed with the Seattle Seahawks. He played two games and decided he would rather be a lawyer and quit to go to law school. In his own words, he self-denied being gay and fought it hard. Finally, he gave in to his sexual orientation and came out as gay.
That did not stop his law career. He came out publicly while nominated for the California Supreme Court by Governor Newsom. He was unanimously confirmed as the first openly gay Supreme Court Justice in the state.
Roy Simmons
Roy Simmons (nickname “Sugar Bear”) was an offensive lineman for the New York Giants and Washington Redskins. He was the second NFL player ever to come out as gay, six years after playing his final game, which was a Super Bowl. He did on a Donahue show in 1992. He died at the age of 57 from pneumonia, a complication from HIV.
Kwame Harris
Kwame Harris was born in Jamaica and moved to The United States as a child. He states he always knew he was gay, and when he came out to his parents during high school, they were not very receptive. That is why he went to Standford at the other side of the country.
He was an odd combination of a music major and a star football play, winning awards. He left his final year to join the NFL.
Harris was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in 2003 where he played for 5 seasons as an offensive tackle. His play was inconsistent, and he was relegated to backup for his final year with the team.
The Oakland Raiders signed him for a three-year contract in 2008 but released him after his first season. Release from the Oakland Raiders allowed him to look at his options.
At that point Harris returned to Standford and finished his degree. He remained closeted.
In 2013, he was “outed” after an arrest and charge for domestic violence against his then partner. It made headlines though he was acquitted of the felony charge – three years’ probation and anger management coursework.
Also in 2013, he came out publicly during an interview with CNN.
Ryan O’Callaghan
Ryan O’Callaghan began his football career as an offensive tackle for the California Golden Bears. During that time, he won the Morris Trophy and was inducted into the Shasta County Sports Hall of Fame.
Callaghan was picked up by the New England Patriots and began his first game against the Buffalo Bills in 2006 and played again in 2007, filling in for an injured starter. A shoulder injury put him on injured reserve. In the fall of 2009, he was waived during the Patriots’ final cuts.
He was immediately picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs. That year, he started 12 games, and another 11 in 2010.
He came out to the Chiefs’ clinical psychologist and then later to his team members. All of them were supportive. In an interview for Outsports magazine, he revealed that he had believed he would never be accepted and that he had actually planned to commit suicide at the end of his career.
He has written an autobiography in an effort to encourage and support other gay NFL players and has begun a foundation to provide scholarships to LGBTQ young people.
Colton Underwood
Both of Underwood’s parents were star athletes at Illinois State University, and Colton followed in his footsteps and played football there too, as defensive end.
His career in the NFL was not stellar. He was signed by the San Diego Chargers in 2014 and was subsequently on the practice squads of the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles, and then back to the Raiders who then waived him. He never played a regular season game.
Underwood then had roles on the reality TV show The Bachelorette and then The Bachelor. During all of this time, he assumed the role of a straight heterosexual man.
Colton came out as gay during an interview with Robin Roberts on the Good Morning America show in 2021. He stated he was doing so because he was being blackmailed.
All is well that ends well. Colton Underwood met Jordan Brown. They married, thanks to the legality of same sex marriage, and welcomed a son just this past fall.
Dorien Bryant
Dorien Bryant was a force to be reckoned with as a wide receiver for Purdue. Following his outstanding college years, he failed to get drafted. He did later sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers but was cut. He turned down offers from the Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys because, as he told The Philadelphia Magazine years later, he could not live his career hiding the fact that he was gay. This is the situation that all LGBTQ athletes have felt and still feel today, and it is particularly a problem in the NFL and other team sports – thus, so many gay professional athletes do not come out until after retirement.
While at Purdue, Bryant had an affair with a male cheerleader who outed him after they broke up. He denied being gay but faced taunting at a game against Indiana State. It was at that point he realized he could not hide his sexuality for a career. End of story.
Michael Sam
Michael Sam was an All-American defensive end for the Missouri Tigers when he publicly came out as gay. And as he later recalled, there were no problems in the locker room or anywhere else – his teammates embraced him. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams – one of the first professional athletes to join an NFL roster as an openly gay football player. He was cut, however, before the regular season began. Sam then played for the Montreal Alouettes – the first gay football player to play in the Canadian Football League.
Carl Nassib
Seven seasons in the NFL. And during those seven seasons, Nassib played as a defensive end and linebacker for the Cleveland Browns, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as wide receiver, and two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders.
In June 2021, Nassib took to Instagram to announce that he was gay, becoming the first active NFL player to do so. When the Raiders released him in 2022, he re-signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and remained an active player through 2022.
Carl Nassib announces retirement, again on Instagram, before the start of the NFL 2023 season. At that time, he also stated that he was making a large donation to The Trevor Project, an organization that supports and advocates not just for gay people, but for all LGBTQ people, especially youth.
Kevin Maxen
In the summer of 2023, Kevin Maxen, the assistant strength coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, announced that he was gay during an interview. He was the first NFL football coach, and in fact the first male coach in any US athletic league to do so. As he stated during the interview, “I don’t want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing, or why I am living with someone else…I also want to just live and not feel fear about how people will react.”
Esera Tualo
Nicknamed “Mr. Aloha,” Esera Tualo played nine seasons in the NFL before retiring from football in 1999. He played offensive lineman and nose tackle for the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons, and Carolina Panthers. He went to the NFL Super Bowl with the Atlanta Falcons, and finally retired in 1999,
He came out as gay during an HBO Real Sports interview. In another interview on Good Morning America, he credited David Kopay’s book with changing his life.
Jerry Smith
Jerry Smith played for 13 seasons as a tight end with the NFL Washington Redskins (now the Washington Commanders). He retired in 1978, came out, and moved to Austin Texas where he opened a gay bar.
Smith revealed that he was HIV positive and ultimately died of the disease at the age of 43. He remains a legend with the Washington Commanders for his stint of 13 seasons.
What’s Next?
Fortunately, the NFL is now beginning to recognize that sexual orientation has nothing to do with football skill. We can only hope that more gay players are encouraged to be who they are publicly and without fear of intimidation.
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