Ryan Russell, an NFL free agent, has come out as bisexual and says he’s just plain tired of hiding himself from the world.
—Retired NFL player frantically pleas for help from the league: ‘I have to get my head checked’—
The 27-year-old said he wants to live his life openly and play for the NFL once again and that those two realities, “shouldn’t be in conflict.”
Russell penned a heartfelt essay for ESPN and opened up about his hopes for living his best life without his sexuality being an issue both on and off the field.
“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,” he writes.
“There isn’t a single openly LGBTQ player in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, or the NHL,” and that he says “brings me pause,” Russell writes.
“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.”
Russell is a free agent defensive end and in 2015 was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. He played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the next two seasons.
In 2018, he said he was out the whole season because of a shoulder injury.
He said he was scouted by an NFL team that was interested in signing him, but said that he’s had enough and that would be the last time he would “ever interview for a job as anything other than my full self.”
“Out of love, admiration and respect, I want the next team to sign me valuing me for what I do and knowing who I truly am,” he writes.
—New England Patriots’ player indicted on drug possession charges—
“I just want to play ball for a team that knows me off the field and values me on it. I want to encourage teammates to be the same people they have always been. I want us to remain as close as family. I want to be able to dedicate my life to football without feeling like I can’t dedicate my life to truth as well.”
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