UPDATE: Alan was not picked in the NFL Draft.
Openly gay former Middle Tennessee State placekicker Alan Gendreau received some bad news yesterday when he was not selected in this year's NFL draft. Gendreau took to Twitter to respond as well as provide some insight into his future plans.
"Just an FYI. I am NOT a part of the NFL draft. I am training right now with hopes of landing a tryout at a training camp in a couple months!"  |
Christopher Gregory/The New York Times
Alan Gendreau, a former college kicker, hopes to be the N.F.L.'s first openly
gay player. |
By JOHN BRANCH
Published: April 23, 2013
Alan Gendreau would seem an unlikely pioneer. He is a former kicker for Middle Tennessee State, the leading scorer in Sun Belt Conference history, a little-known 23-year-old who wants a shot at the N.F.L.
And he is gay.
Recent attention on the sooner-or-later milestone of an openly gay male athlete in a major American team sport has been spurred by a presumption: That the first will be a current professional athlete.
Alan Gendreau kicking for
Middle Tennessee
State in 2008.
But those who have long tracked the issue have thought the more likely scenario would involve an already out athlete climbing through the college ranks to reach the N.F.L, N.B.A., N.H.L or Major League Baseball.
They thought it would be someone like Gendreau. And it might be, if and when he can secure an invitation to try out for a team in the coming months.
Gendreau’s motivation is not to become the first openly gay player in the N.F.L. It is simply to play in the N.F.L.
“I’m a kicker that happens to be gay,” Gendreau said on Tuesday. “It’s a part of who I am, and not everything I am. I just want to be known as a normal kicker.”
Gendreau’s story was detailed in a substantial feature and video released Tuesday by Outsports, a Web site devoted to the intersection of gays and sports. Cyd Zeigler, a co-founder of Outsports who wrote the story, said Gendreau is not looking for a spot in history.
“His goal is not to be the first,” Zeigler said. “His goal is to be who he is.”
Full Article from the NY Times
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