2006 draft pick Ryan O'Callaghan comes out

"Hey everyone, look at me!"

Now...What about Kerry Rhoads?

He looked like he was going through he a fixture at RT until injury.Glad to hear how he handled it. Gotta be tough to be in professional sports if you are gay.

The Boston Patriot said:

"Hey everyone, look at me!"

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It appears that you wrote that post about yourself...

The Boston Patriot said:

"Hey everyone, look at me!"

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I sincerely hope that no one close to you finds themselves in a position like Ryan O'Callaghan.

Seems like a really nice guy.

I look at this the same way I look at Tom Brady wearing a NY Yankee cap. I don't care who Tom Brady's favorite baseball team is.......and I don't care who Ryan O'Callahan sleeps with. They are both completely irrelevant to me.

Still blown away that people actually care about others' preferences. It is sad he felt so alone that he contemplated ending it all. Thank goodness fine individuals still exist & look out for others.

I pray for the times where being gay becomes a whatever, story, like if you have blond hair, blue eyes, ear contacts, etc

I've never understood what the big deal is about someone being gay.

Shoot, if I were female, I'd be a hardcore lesbian!

I just hope aaron rodgers sees this article, and finds the courage he needs.

pazrul72 said:

Unbelievable story and my heart goes out to him that he had to live a lie for so long. If I could I would make every single NFL player coach GM and NFL hopeful read it to understand gay guys in the locker room aren't checking you out and are WAY more afraid of you then you are of them. My respect for Pioli as a person also went way up. His treatment of a friend as just another person and humor same as always speaks volumes of the human being he is. We still have a long way to go but stories like this will help speed ready acceptance along to someday I hope we no longer hear stories like this because "coming out" is no longer something anyone cares about.

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Having all rookies read this is quite possible for NFL as part of rookie orientation. They should know that some of the attitudes they saw at their colleges and locker rooms are not acceptable in the NFL.

Thank you for posting this piece. Great read and revealing about living that pro athlete life as a gay man. Scott Pioli, Mike Vrabel and Matt Cassell made the transition to the Chiefs work for him, which is great.

My favorite quote come from his mother:

"I wish I’d known, I wish I had been more aware," his mother, Evelyn O’Callaghan, told Outsports in a phone interview. "But he just wasn’t any different from the kid down the street. He was focused on class and school. He was active in sports. He played football in high school and he would just always seem very focused."

Focused? No kidding, Mom. He was so determined that he made the best team in Patriots history, and played in an iconic Super Bowl. Anybody who could make the 18-1 2007 Patriots is just fine with me.

Good luck, Ryan.

farn said:

Still blown away that people actually care about others' preferences. It is sad he felt so alone that he contemplated ended it all. Thank goodness fine individuals still exist & look out for others.

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Good post.

As a heterosexual male, I used to hope during my bachelor days that every man in my vicinity was gay. Just less competition. That's as far as I care about it though.

His email is at the bottom of the article, just sent him a few words. Hope he'll appreciate it. Bet he'd like to hear from people.

The Boston Patriot said:

"Hey everyone, look at me!"

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Ever had a secret so close to your heart that in your mind, making it public potentially means all the people whom you have ever loved or those that were there to nurture and see you grow from child to adult instantaneously ostracise and reject you? Imagine something like that festering over the years to the point where you consider taking your own life.

We live in a age where a two-bit socialite, on her mother's suggestion (allegedly) films and leaks a sex-tape of herself, goes through hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of surgery to contort her figure, releases naked photo after naked photo of herself, become a hit reality star ****ing up the heads of hundreds of millions of young girls across the world and you want to call the former NFL player who has struggled with a potentially life ending secret and who now wishes to make a positive impact on the lives of similarly affected youth by sharing his battle an attention seeker? C'mon man.

Society is a cruel game.
But there's always a chance to overcome . and make it (a fraction) better.

Thanks for sharing.

The Boston Patriot said:

"Hey everyone, look at me!"

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You're just awful.

What a great story.

We all have our own path of self discovery and it's never easy. Not to minimize anyone else's struggle, but I think it's harder to come out when one doesn't have other non-stereotypical gay role models to emulate. When you don't fit into the "straight world" or the "gay world", you really feel like you're going it alone. However, that's what makes us all stronger and helps us take the heat from either side for not "fitting in." I'm glad that he continues to carve a path that he's alive to share that story. Thank you!

bbobbo said:

it also shows how wrong those people are who say that gay athletes should keep their sexual orientation private. if o'callaghan had done that, he'd probably be dead now.
.

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They don't care. Their biases and fears are more important to them.

AtomicDawg said:

What a great story.

We all have our own path of self discovery and it's never easy. Not to minimize anyone else's struggle, but I think it's harder to come out when one doesn't have other non-stereotypical gay role models to emulate. When you don't fit into the "straight world" or the "gay world", you really feel like you're going it alone. However, that's what makes us all stronger and helps us take the heat from either side for not "fitting in." I'm glad that he continues to carve a path that he's alive to share that story. Thank you!

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No offense, but what is a "stereotypical gay role model"? Any gay person who has the courage to be out publicly can be a role model. And just like straight people, there are all different kinds of gay people. The flaming homo stereotype (think Jack from Will & Grace) is no more "stereotypical" than all the tough guy gay guys. And if that still is the stereotype, the stereotype needs to catch up with the times. There are plenty of masculine gay guys and feminine lesbians out there. It is a stereotype that was perpetuated as a slight. To make it seem like gay guys were somehow lesser men than straight men in a time when it was accepted that women were inferior to men.