Gay ex-college football player’s coming-out video a lifeline for athletes
Jake Eldridge has become a lifeline for some gay athletes, as his coming-out video has resonated with people in and out of football. The post Gay ex-college football player’s coming-out video a lifeline for athletes appeared first on Outsports.
Mark
The first time former Rutgers football player Jake Eldridge recorded his YouTube coming out video, something about it felt off.
So he tried filming it again. As he edited the new video, he realized that it still didn’t come off right.
Eldridge made another attempt. And yet another. But none of them felt like they were in his genuine voice.
“I tried to make it very proper and give people what they wanted to hear versus speaking from my heart,” he told Outsports.
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Jake Eldridge published an emotional coming out video to his YouTube that detailed how hiding his true self on the gridiron eventually led his hospitalization. Now, he’s never been happier.
For his fifth attempt, he realized that he needed to open up his emotions on camera and told himself, “It’s OK to cry.”
This time, it was exactly what he wanted.
“It’s a very vulnerable thing to do and I was a little afraid of putting that out there and knowing it would be public. But I also knew that it was me and it was my story and that’s how I wanted to tell it,” he said.
The phrase “living your truth” frequently appears in coming-out stories. When Eldridge decided to talk publicly about his personal journey as a gay man, he realized it would never be right until it was coming from his authentic self.
Viewer responses to his vulnerability and honesty in the video were profoundly uplifting. Eldridge admitted he was particularly moved by several LGBTQ people who commented that they too were struggling with the coming out process and his video helped give them a voice.
“It’s very emotional for me. It hits home because I know what they feel like because I was there not too long ago,” he said. “There’s part of me that’s happy that it was able to benefit that many people. The other part of me is sad that there’s that many people that feel like they don’t have a voice and they can’t be themselves yet.”
Included among those who responded to Eldridge’s video were a few closeted college athletes who found special resonance in his story.
He had been serving as a sounding board for those closeted athletes as someone who could relate to what they were going through. But Eldridge also emphasized that he didn’t want to pressure anyone to come out before they were ready to do so on their own terms.
“I always assumed that there were other athletes going through it but you never know whenever you’re in the moment [because] you feel so alone. So seeing how many people have opened up to me and trusted me too with their stories and admitting that to me and nobody else is inspiring in a way,” he said.
Numerous former football teammates also reached out with messages of support. After sharing so much of his vulnerable side with his followers, Eldridge found himself surprised and heartened to see how many of his former teammates and people in football accepted him for who he was unconditionally.
Several of them also apologized for telling homophobic jokes in his presence while he was enduring life in the closet.
“It’s a family culture, and the trust and respect that the players have for each other is like a family. You don’t want to hurt somebody in your family,” he said.
Now that he has shared his true self as a gay man with the world, Eldridge wants to use his social media platforms to explore more of his real passions going forward.
When he was an active player he would occasionally post about his love for baking, fashion or travel and then immediately delete it for fear of what others might say. Now that he’s out of the closet, he wants to celebrate those sides of himself and encourage others to show their passions in unexpected fields.
“I want to do something to benefit people with that and show them that there’s more to the world than one thing that other people want for you. It’s what you want for yourself,” he said.
At the moment, it’s still hard for Eldridge to look at pictures and videos of himself as a football player because they bring back painful memories. But ultimately, he’s relieved to be in a much freer and happier place as a person.
“I don’t want to look at it because it does bring me back to a dark place,” he said, “But I would tell that Jake that it’ll be OK. It all works out and one day, you’ll get to be you.”
You can follow Jake Eldridge on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
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The post Gay ex-college football player’s coming-out video a lifeline for athletes appeared first on Outsports.
