Gay nfl qb

He came out in a blog post in 2014, thanking athletes like Michael Sam and Jason Collins for helping him gain the courage. In 1968, he was arrested for "having sex with a man in public." Soon after, that's when Lombardi warned players to not give him any crap for being gay. In a coming out story in 2017, O'Callaghan revealed his plan after football was always to kill himself.

He died of AIDS complications in 1986, becoming the first former pro athlete known to die of AIDS.

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.

Ray McDonald (1967-68)

Washington's first-round pick in 1967, Ray McDonald didn't have a lengthy career but had a tragic story.

He was "late" to a team meeting by coach Vince Lombardi's standards in 1969, and that cost him his job.

Jenkins, 69, later became the first openly gay justice on the Supreme Court of California in 2020, a position he still holds today.

Roy Simmons (1979-83)

Simmons played a few seasons on the offensive line for the New York Giants and Washington Redskins, and he played in Super Bowl XVIII with Washington.

Called "Sugar Bear" by his teammates, he struggled during his NFL career with drug abuse over concealing his sexuality.

He's still in the game in his own way: he hosted a Super Bowl Inclusion Party two years ago, which was sponsored by the "Hate Is Wrong" anti-bullying organization.

Wade Davis (2000-03)

Davis never played in a regular-season NFL game, but he attended training camp for teams like the Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins.

He's said he had constant anxiety during his career over fears of being outed. He went undrafted in 2008 and was signed by the Steelers, but he was released after a failed physical. “He was a mother, father, best friend — everything to me.”

Stewart took over as the Steelers' starting quarterback during his third season, leading Pittsburgh to the AFC Championship Game before being eliminated the eventual Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos.

He was sexually assaulted by a man he didn't know well when he was a young boy. The response he got was overwhelmingly positive.

Colton Underwood (2014-16)

Before he was famous for jumping the fence and making Cassie's life a living hell on a wild season of "The Bachelor," he was donning an NFL jersey.

Yet for the third consecutive season, there will be none in 2025.

Carl Nassib was No. 16 and the first one to come out as gay while on an active roster. It's only a matter of time before more embrace their sexualities in public.

While the NFL has done a better job showing it supports the LGBTQ+ community, it's up to the players and coaches who make up the NFL locker rooms to truly create a safe place where all are welcome.

but it is in gay years."

Brad Thorson (2011)

A lineman at Kansas and Wisconsin in college, Thorson attended training camp with the Arizona Cardinals in 2011. Aloha" was a big, 277-pound defensive tackle for the Packers and Vikings, among other teams. Smith moved to Austin, Texas, in the 1980s and opened a gay bar.

Jenkins is gay and this was the the first time he widely discussed his sexual orientation.

2021 update

In April, Colton Underwood came out publicly. Here's all 14 of them, in order of when they played.

Dave Kopay (1964-72)

Kopay was a running back who played for a number of teams like the San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers, mostly serving as a back-up.

He's considered a gay pioneer after he came out to a newspaper in 1975, which made him the first pro team sport athlete to come out — not just in the NFL.

His 1977 autobiography, "The David Kopay Story," revealed many of his struggles and became a best-seller. Nassib played with the Bucs in 2022 and retired from the NFL on Sept.

He learned he was HIV positive in 1997 and died at 57 in 2014.