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From jockstrap tattoos to “homoerotic rituals”: The 15 gayest stories in NFL history
With the 2023 NFL season starting, it's time to revisit the league's homoerotic past.
Don’t let the NFL’s hyper-macho facade fool you: America’s favorite sports league is gay as hell!
With the NFL returning Thursday night (the Super Bowl champion Kansas City are hosting the Detroit Lions), we thought it was the perfect time to run through some of the gayest stories in the league’s illustrious 57-year history. There are many, ranging from the homoerotic to historically significant.
As a major cultural institution, the NFL helps set the tone on prevailing social attitudes. That’s why when the league embraces its first out gay active player, or declares “football is gay,” it’s a really big deal!
And it’s also really funny when, say, Buffalo Bills fans throw dildos onto the field.
While the NFL is far from perfect–casual homophobia continues to permeate locker rooms–there’s little doubt the league is in a far better place now.
In that spirit, click through for 15 times the NFL got really, really gay; and in some cases, helped push society forward towards greater acceptance for all.
Aaron Rodgers jockstrap tattoo
Back in 2017–long before Rodgers started endorsing ivermectin and seemingly stopped washing his hair–a tattoo artist created artwork featuring the all-time great QB holding a football while wearing a crop top and jockstrap.
Homophobes freaked out about the incident, prompting the tattoo artist, Alisha Rice, to release a searing response.
“I’d like to to thank the Internet and the bloggers that brought homophobic football fans and armchair tattoo critiques to my door,” she wrote in response to he backlash.
“I am happy with the results and so is the client,” she added. “You may not understand why someone would want a hunky football player tattoo, but tattooing is personal. This tattoo is a celebration of identity, home, and team. That’s it! Hate and bigotry are not welcome here.”
Amen! Hate and bigotry are out. Aaron Rodgers in a jock strap is in.
Marshawn Lynch stars in “Bottoms” to make amends for past homophobia
Notorious for snubbing the media and getting fined for it, Lynch wasn’t always the most open as a player. But don’t let his aversion to interviews making you think the ferocious ex-running back isn’t introspective.
Lynch has a role in “Bottoms,” a story about two queer high school school students who start a fight club to have sex before graduation. When Lynch read the script, it reminded him of his sister, Marreesha Sapp-Lynch, who identifies as gay.
When Sapp-Lynch came out, her brother wasn’t the most receptive, she told People this week. When he talked to her about the role, she implored him to take it.
“From the beginning when he read the script, he said that I came to mind. I was like, ‘Most definitely you should do it.’ I just told him, ‘It’ll get you to understand, get more knowledge about the lesbian community,” she said.
“Football as a “homoerotic ritual“
Way back in 1978, Cal-Berkeley anthropologist Alan Dundes asked a very important question: is football a homoerotic ritual?
Dundes, who received death threats for his provocative analysis, equated football slang terms and rituals to gay sex. And, I mean, we can’t really argue with him. For example: the New York Giants are hoping star running back Saquon Barkley can *pound* the ball into the end zone this season?
We’re on board with that!
Gisele thought Brady was “gay“
As Tom Brady won more Super Bowls, his style became more refined and bourgeois. He sported new haircuts, was a regular at the Met Gala and endorsed Aston Martin and endorsed Tag Heuer.
With that in mind, some especially ignorant sports talk callers (and that’s saying something) occasionally threw around the “gay” word as an insult to Brady.
Well, in a previous interview, Gisele said she considered Brady to be gay when she first saw him…
“Tom Brady, definitely not too shabby,” she said. “He’s cute, but if he has a girlfriend, he’s gay to me. There are too many men in the world to go after a man who has a woman. Life is too short.”
Wise words from the modeling icon. Gisele and Brady got divorced last year.
Bills fans throw sex toys onto the field
Star country boy quarterback Josh Allen isn’t the only person with a strong arm in Buffalo! Bills fans have been throwing dildos onto the field for years!
Lady Gaga‘s Super Bowl performance
Gay icons rule the Super Bowl halftime show, but perhaps no pop diva showed up in more glistening fashion than Lady Gaga, who belted out the lyrics of “Born This Way” to well over 100 million Americans.
Rams make Super Bowl history with five out gay cheerleaders
The Los Angeles Rams made NFL history when they took five out gay cheerleaders to Super Bowl LVI.
This year, two of those five, Jose Capetillo and Brendan Ryan, were voted captains. They told Queerty it’s a tremendous honor.
Jerry Jones wants some “glory hole“
OK, this might not be one of the most significant LGBTQ+-related stories in NFL history.
But it’s one of the funniest!
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, a hard-drinking, billionaire oil tycoon, was reminiscing about the team’s past playoff success. While Jones is known for malapropisms, his fond recollection of those “glory hole days” takes the cake.
“I’ve been here when it was glory hole days and I’ve been here when it wasn’t,” he said. “Having said that, I want me some glory hole.”
Don’t we all?
Nick Foles’ massive dong
Along those lines, let’s harken back to when Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin revealed something really personal, and impressive, about the team’s Super Bowl-winning QB: he has a huge wiener!
Barwin spilled the tea in a Reddit Q&A when asked who boasts the biggest pecker in the locker room.
“Doesn’t the internet know it’s Nick Foles?,” he replied.
If you didn’t know before, now you do!
Kevin Maxen becomes first out gay male coach
Earlier this summer, Jacksonville Jaguars strength and conditioning coach Kevin Maxen publicly came out as gay. He said he came out, because he was tired of lying.
“I don’t want to feel like I have to think about it anymore,” he said. “I don’t want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing, or why I am living with someone else.”
The team’s response was great, and Maxen just completed a smooth training camp.
“Kevin is a Jacksonville Jaguar through and through, and a key member of our football team and community,” said owner Shad Khan. “I look forward to seeing Kevin next week at training camp, and hope that he comes to work each day during camp and through the season feeling confident, free and at peace.”
Katie Sowers becomes first out gay and female coach in Super Bowl history
Sowers broke two barriers when she coached the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. She became the first female and gay coach in the big game’s history.
And players were full of praise for her.
“She has more knowledge than what people expect from a game standpoint, for sure,” 49ers player Richie James told NFL.com. “She works hard at her craft, just as much as [the players] do. She loves it, she loves the game as much as we do.”
NFL declares “football is gay“
As mentioned previously, the NFL is one of our most treasured cultural institutions. So when the league released an LGBTQ+-friendly “Football is for everyone” video, it was a big deal (the spot was released in June 2021, shortly after Carl Nassib publicly came out as gay).
Michael Sam comes out before the NFL Draft
When then-NFL prospect Michael Sam came out as gay in 2014, it was still a different world. Some players were still saying they wouldn’t accept an openly gay teammate, and one prominent sports journalist even reported on Sams’ shower habits.
While Sam never played in an NFL game, the seventh-round pick helped pave the way.
Dave Kopay becomes the first
Dave Kopay shocked the sports world when he came out as gay in 1975. The NFL vet (he played in the league from 1964-1972) revealed his sexuality in a magazine interview, and was candid about the obstacles facing gay men in the NFL.
Kopay was the first NFL player to ever publicly come out.
“Because of my homosexuality I can’t get a job as a coach,” he wrote in his memoir.
Nowadays, out gay people can coach, and play, in the NFL. That wouldn’t have been possible without Kopay.
Carl Nassib comes out
Nassib broke one of the biggest barriers for gay men in pro sports when he came out as gay on June 21, 2021. The defensive end’s big announcement showed once and for all that gay people belong in the NFL, and can win.
Nassib, who announced his retirement this week, made the playoffs every season after coming out.
Away from the gridiron, Nassib seems to be loving life. One of our favorite sports hunks has been enjoying a hot gay summer with his gorgeous boyfriend, Olympian Søren Dahl.
Not too shabby.
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