Openly Gay Kicker Alan Gendreau Wants NFL Draft 2013 Shot As Middle Tennessee Star First Homosexual College Player

Apr 24, 2013 10:03 AM EDT

Openly gay kicker Alan Gendreau played for Middle Tennessee in college and was the first and only openly gay players in all of major sports when he played for the team from 2008 to 2011 and while the school never went public about it, the story is getting bigger as the kicker heads to the NFL.

According to Yahoo Sports, Gendreau was open with teammates and friends about his sexual orientation and he said that no one treated him differently on the team. He was a four year starter in school and ended up as the career scoring leader in the Sun Belt with nearly 300 points and has the second longest field goal at 55 yards. The media did not get on to the story until now and coaches and players never went public with it.

Teammates said that they looked at him like a football player and nothing else and after finishing his senior season the kicker now looks to the pros. Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe said that Gendreau should be able to make it into the league as a kicker and that he has the skills to do so, whether it be through a training camp or the draft.

"My whole thing in this is just to help anybody who is struggling with coming out," Gendreau told the New York Times. "I want people to know that I didn't have a problem with it, and they shouldn't, either."

Get the Most Popular Stories in a Weekly Newsletter
Array

Join the Conversation

  • Get Connected
  • Share
  • Like Us on Facebook
  • @sportswr
  • Recommend on Google
Real Time Analytics