When this gay former Patriots player came out, ‘Mike Vrabel was one of the first to reach out’
Mike Vrabel is the New England Patriots’ new head coach. A gay player with the team can know their coach supports them.
Mark
This story first ran in 2025.
Mike Vrabel has been hired as the new head coach of the New England Patriots, which should be welcome news for gay fans of the team.
As one of those very people, the news over the weekend brought a smile to my face. The Patriots have built a strong reputation as an NFL team that proactively reaches out to the LGBTQ community. Team owner Robert Kraft has been a big part for the team’s public face of its inclusion efforts, taking the mic at a Boston-based Gay Bowl and appearing in a pro-LGBTQ video produced by CBS Sports.
Both Kraft and Vrabel have also shown strong support for gay former Patriots lineman Ryan O’Callaghan, who came out publicly as gay on Outsports in 2017.
According to O’Callaghan, Vrabel — with whom he played for both the Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs — reached out as soon as his coming-out story broke, making sure he felt the support of former teammates.
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O’Callaghan had always planned to commit suicide after football, until Kansas City Chiefs staffers stepped in.
“I’ve heard from quite a few of them, actually,” O’Callaghan told the Boston Globe at the time, when asked if he’d heard from former NFL teammates. “Mike Vrabel was one of the first to reach out and that’s cool.”
Kraft also contacted O’Callaghan after his former player came out as gay, even inviting him to a Patriots game and welcoming him into his private office, expressing unmitigated support.
Vrabel was formerly the head coach of the Tennesse Titans (who publicly opposed an anti-LGBTQ law at the time), where he racked up a 54-45 record. He lead the Titans to the NFL Playoffs for three straight seasons, winning Coach of the Year honors in 2021. His final two seasons in Tennessee ended with losing records, and he was let go by the team.
Vrabel won three Super Bowls as a player with the Patriots.
He once joked that he would cut of his “dong” to win a Super Bowl as a head coach, something he came within two games of doing in the 2019 NFL season.
Kraft hiring Vrabel as the Patriots’ new head coach isn’t just welcome news for gay fans, but for many Patriots fans. After the owner (essentially) fired eight-time Super Bowl champion coach Bill Belichick, he hired Jerod Mayo as head coach. Mayo’s one season as head coach was not good, posting a 4-13 record in his one season as head coach. That was the same record for which Belichick was fired the previous year.
Fans are thrilled to have a new head coach with both a winning track record and a Patriots lineage. If he and his coaching staff can harness the talents of quarterback Drake Maye and rebuild a defense that was truly terrible under Mayo, the Patriots could again be winners.
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