Out gay former NFL player: ‘Life is great now’ that I came out

A retired NFL player who came out as gay earlier this year has said “life is great now”.

Ryan O’Callaghan came out as gay back in June.

He was drafted to the New England Patriots in 2006, and has also played for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Two months on from having come out as gay, O’Callaghan says “life is great now”.

Speaking to USA TODAY, he said he has recently dealth with breaking up with a boyfriend of nine months: “First love and all that,” O’Callaghan said — but, for the record, willing to be set up “if you know anyone who’s younger and hot.”

O’Callaghan is also working on a book, he says.

“Life’s great now,” he adds.

He also reflected on meeting clinical psychologist in Kansas city, Susan B. Wilson, and says his life would be over if they had not met.

“It’s the truth,” O’Callaghan continued. “I could almost certainly say I’d be dead.”

The player, who is now retired from professional football, opened up about his sexuality in an interview with Outsports.

O’Callaghan explained that he had tried to come out once before, in 2014, when he publicly thanked his boyfriend while receiving an award.

However, the news went pretty much unnoticed, so he took the leap again in an interview this week.

He explained to Outsports of being in the closet: “I used football as a cover for my life. Football was the most masculine thing I could do, so I decided to dedicate myself to football.

“No one is going to assume the big football player is gay. It’s why a football team is such a good place to hide.”

The player added that his sexuality weighed on him while he was in the closet.

He said: “Being gay wasn’t just a small detail in my life, it consumed it. It’s all I would think about. But now that I have come out it rarely crosses my mind.

“I’d go about my daily life in football, but thinking about hiding it and hoping no one finds out and being ready for any situation was exhausting.”