This weekend, retired Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jeff Rohrer will marry Joshua Ross, making Rohrer the first known current or former National Football League player in a same-sex marriage, reports The New York Times.
Rohrer, 59, played football for Yale University and spent six seasons in the NFL. Before Rohrer, only seven NFL players who played in a regular season game had come out as gay. But none came out until after their playing days were over, according to Outsports.
Rohrer told the Times he would have been "cut immediately" if he'd told the Dallas Cowboys in the 1980s that he was gay. "It was a different world back then, people didn't want to hear that," he said.
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Many of Rohrer's close friends and family, including former Dallas Cowboys teammates, have been supportive, says the Times. Retired NFL Senior Vice President of Communications Greg Aiello said the NFL community has done a lot of work to develop tolerance and inclusion in the league.
Roher feels "revived," like he's "born again," he told Outsports. "I'm not going to change the world, but we can at least get the message out there that it's OK and I'm proud of where I am. I'm not ashamed," he said. Roher and Ross, 36, an aesthetician in West Hollywood, will be married Sunday in Los Angeles. Read more at The New York Times. Taylor Watson
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