Former Dallas Cowboy Comes Out, Set to Marry Partner This Weekend
Jeff Rohrer, a former linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys, is set to become the first NFL player to enter into a same-sex marriage.
Rohrer was drafted to the Cowboys in 1982 and played 83 games under coach Tom Landry before being cut when Jimmy Johnson took over in 1989. As reported by CNN, Rohrer said he had no choice but to hide his sexuality with the anti-LGBT climate of the 80s,
That was not part of the plan, and it wasn't going to happen. When I went to Yale, it was the same thing there. And then I got drafted by the Cowboys. What am I going to do, come out then?
If I had told the Dallas Cowboys in the 1980s that I was gay, I would have been cut immediately. It was a different world back then, people didn't want to hear that.
Now working as a commercial producer in Los Angeles, Rohrer met his partner Joshua Ross in 2015, and only recently came out publicly, which Rohrer says has been met with a great deal of support from former teammates,
I've given at least five people heart attacks with this news. But for the most part, many of my closest friends, including some of my former teammates with the Cowboys, could not have been more happy and supportive.
By marrying this Sunday, Rohrer, who will be turning 60 this Christmas, will become the first NFL player, past or present, to be in a same-sex marriage.