Coming Out to Play

When Robbie Rogers stepped onto the field for the LA Galaxy in 2013, he made history as the first openly gay man to play in a major US professional sport. Coming Out to Play tells Rogers's harrowing story as a closeted gay man in the ultra-heterosexual world of professional football, his decision to come out and leave behind his beloved sport, and his subsequent return to football – signing for the LA Galaxy. Rogers knew he wanted to be a professional football player from the age of four, and knew he was gay from the age of thirteen. He kept the latter hidden until he was twenty-five, believing the two realities to be totally irreconcilable. For twelve years he mastered the art of deception, both inwardly to himself and outwardly to teammates, friends, and family. In a February 2013 blog post that received global attention, he finally came out to the world. Rogers's memoir is a moving account of love overcoming prejudice, and a clarion call to other gay sports people around the world to openly embrace their sexuality.