Robbie Rogers is considering a return
to soccer after coming out, a move which would make him the U.S.'s
first openly gay professional athlete.
The former U.S. Men's National Soccer
Team member who last played for the UK's Leeds United team came out
gay and announced his retirement from professional soccer in an
online post in February.
Last month, Rogers, 25, told the UK's
Guardian that fear
kept him closeted throughout his career.
“In football it's obviously
impossible to come out – because no one has done it. No one. It's
crazy and sad,” Rogers said.
“I was just fearful. I was very
fearful how my teammates were going to react. Was it going to change
them? Even though I'd still be the same person would it change the
way they acted towards me – when we were in the dressing room or
the bus?”
In an interview with ABC's
Nightline, Rogers said he remained closeted so he could
fit in with the “macho, macho man” world of soccer.
“Because it's sport. It's the
stereotype that you're supposed to be this manly guy that is making
tackles. It's beating up on other guys,” Rogers said in the
interview, which airs Monday night.
Rogers said that he has yet to decide
whether he will return to the sport.
“Gay athletes are athletes,” Rogers
said. “If I go back to soccer, I want to go back as Robbie. I
just want it to be as simple as that.”
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