Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Mass Live reports:
Ryan Russell, who missed all of last season with a shoulder injury, is hoping to return to the NFL, but he wants to do it on his terms. In a first-person article on ESPN, Russell made it public that he is bisexual: “My truth is that I’m a talented football player, a damn good writer, a loving son, an overbearing brother, a caring friend, a loyal lover, and a bisexual man,” he wrote.
“Today, I have two goals: returning to the NFL, and living my life openly. I want to live my dream of playing the game I’ve worked my whole life to play, and being open about the person I’ve always been.”
Russell, a fifth-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2015, played one game with the Cowboys in 2015 then parts of two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2016 and 2017. Russell missed 2018 with a shoulder injury and is unsigned.
From his EPSN column:
Growing up, I always felt as though my existence slipped between the cracks of two worlds. I wasn’t flamboyant, tidy, or any other stereotypes kids are forced to construct their world around. I wasn’t straight, hyper-masculine or aggressive; I cried quite a bit, and, as a young black man, I didn’t fit the bill. I played football — so I put that in the straight column. I wrote poetry and romance stories — so I put that in the gay column.
Over time, I came to build two worlds. There was football, the drive to play at a professional level, a place that catered to my competitive instincts. Football was a world of opportunity where, if I performed well, I could earn a scholarship, support my family and build a life for myself long after I stopped playing. Then there’s my personal world, which probably isn’t much different from most people who are figuring out who they are in adulthood.
Ex-Dallas Cowboys Player Ryan Russell Announces He’s Bisexual https://t.co/XjqB7JWi4C
— TMZ (@TMZ) August 29, 2019