At Least Three Gay or Bi Men Have Played On The Team… – Instinct Magazine
I will be the first person to tell you football is not my jam. At all. I mean I know the basics. I know names of the teams. I have been to Super Bowl parties, watching only the half-time show, natch! I know everyone hates the Patriots. But I am pretty much tapped out after that.
So when this assignment came up, I jumped at it. Shocking, I know! I figured hey I should learn something new today! And in a field, I know really nothing about – that counts double, lol. Plus when I saw Dallas Cowboys in the title, I remembered how much I loved watching “Making The Team: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders!” Is that show even still on? if you have not seen it, binge a season immeds it’s amaze!
But I digress, back to the matter at hand! As Carl Nassib just recently became the NFL’s first openly gay active player, we can look back at other men who since playing have come out as either gay or bisexual. We did not need to look any further than one specific team. The Dallas Cowboys organization has quite a gay history apparently. At least three men who played on the team now identify as gay or bi: Jeff Rohrer, Michael Sam and RK Russell.
Jeff Rohrer
In 2018 Jeff Rohrer became the first known NFL player to marry a man, his now partner Jeffrey Ross. Rohrer came out publicly a few months earlier. The couple are quite active on social media, even sharing an Instagram account, JoshuaandJeffrey.
In 2019, the two were the subject of a PEOPLE Magazine story showing their lives together. Now they are raising Rohrer’s two teenage sons, along with his ex-wife: all in the same house.
Michael Sam
As earlier reported in Outsports,
“In 2014, just four days after Michael Sam had been cut by the St. Louis Rams, the Cowboys picked up the defensive end for their practice squad. During his time with the team, owner Jerry Jones said him being gay is “a dead issue. A dead issue.” He’d be with the team for eight weeks before being released.”
Sam retired from the NFL in August 2015 citing mental health reasons as the factor. He currently works as a motivational speaker and author. He was briefly engaged to Vito Cammisano, but the two are no longer together, yet still remain close friends. Sam also competed on the 20th season of Dancing With the Stars finishing in 10th place.
RK RUSSELL
A free agent right now Russell was a fifth-round draft pick for the Cowboys in 2015. He came out as bisexual in 2019. As written on his website, rkrelentless, he describes himself as a writer, advocate and athlete,
:Ryan K. Russell is a professional football player in the NFL, a published poet, essayist, and artist. In August of 2019, Russell made history by becoming the first out active NFL player to identify as bisexual. A decorated defensive end who has played for the Dallas Cowboys and this year’s Super Bowl champs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has sacked Hall of Famers and gone up against the fiercest competitors at the height of their game. “
And that’s just one team! Thanks for joining me on the queer herstory of the Dallas Cowboys! Until next time, Instinct readers. We leave with Michael Sam and his partner Peta Murgatroyd competing on “DWTS!”
[embedded content]
Sources: Outsports