Ryan Russell’s currently an NFL free agent who last played for the Buccaneers in 2017 that had an announcement today. He shared his story with ESPN in an article coming out as bisexual and saying he also wanted to return to the NFL. “Have I lied to teammates, coaches, trainers, front-office executives and fans about who I am,” he asked. “Not exactly. But withholding information is a form of deceit. And I want the next part of my career – and life – steeped in trust and honesty. During the season you spend more time with your team than with your own family; truth and honesty are the cornerstones of a winning culture. My truth is that I’m a talented football player, a damn good writer, a loving son, an overbearing brother, a caring friend, a loyal lover, and a bisexual man.
Today, I have two goals: returning to the NFL, and living my life openly. I want to live my dream of playing the game I’ve worked my whole life to play, and being open about the person I’ve always been.”
He went on to talk about his concern about being openly gay and getting into the NFL again saying, “Those two objectives shouldn’t be in conflict. But judging from the fact that there isn’t a single openly LGBTQ player in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball or the NHL, brings me pause. I want to change that – for me, for other athletes who share these common goals, and for the generations of LGBTQ athletes who will come next.”
All of this was followed up with a picture of him and his lover posted together on Instagram account. Immediately, of course the congratulatory messages from within the LGBT community came in but without even looking for it, we’re sure the “why was it necessary to announce who you’re sleeping with” or “no one cares” messages are out there. It’s necessary because contrary to what some will have you believe, being out is not a largely accepted thing and for the most part, professionally, at least people who aren’t obviously gay, they tend to keep it to themselves. LGBT youth are committing suicide 3 times that of their heterosexual counterparts and in Canada it’s 14 times as high so dealing with the stigma is quite stress inducing. Many others state that people in the LGBT community try to force others into accepting them which is definitely not true for everyone because Russell is evidence of how people would rather keep it to themselves than to even have the debate.
And keep in mind there’s almost no good time to come out. If it’s done too early, you risk being thrown out of the house as a teenager which is common in the LGBT community which is why there’s so many gay friendly youth homeless shelters and if you do it at any point as an adult, if you have a solid professional career, you risk it. You can also just keep it to yourself and pretend you’re straight but that’s stressful in and of itself. Either way, we’re happy he’s learned to be genuine about his life and hope he gets his wish of getting back into the NFL
