The NFL Could be About to Get Its First Ever Openly Gay Player
If Scott Frantz gets picked in this year’s virtual NFL Draft picks he would eventually become the first openly gay man to play in an NFL regular-season game.
The Kansas State offensive has an opportunity to go a step beyond every openly-gay player by reaching the NFL, although it is hard enough to be drafted in a normal draft cycle, let alone when it is being conducted while the world is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
According to ‘Sporting News’, Frantz came out to his teammates as a sophomore in 2016 while the Kansas State players were asked to reveal a secret in order to build trust within the locker room.
He later went on to come out on ESPN back in 2017. “I came out to my teammates, and I've never felt so loved and so accepted ever in my life than when I did that,” Frantz said in an interview. “And ever since then it's been great. I've grown so much closer to my teammates since then. So it's been an amazing experience.”
He continued to say: “I ultimately am sharing this story because I want to reach out to all the other kids who are just like me, who feel they can't be accepted, they can't be loved, because of who they are," Frantz said. "I spent my whole childhood hating myself because of who I was. I was angry. I was mad. I was depressed at times. I want to share my message, to tell other people in my spot, that you can be loved. You can be accepted. You can be who you are. It's just not a big deal anymore.”
Frantz hopes he will be viewed as any other player on the NFL draft although he understands the significance of his place in the league for the LGBT+ community.
“I don't think it's a burden at all,” Frantz said. “If there's people that look up to me because of that, I think that's awesome. Anything I can do to be a role model to people. There'll definitely be a lot of people that look up to me because of that, but that stuff is not even really on my mind at all. I'm just trying to make the most of my opportunity.”
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