Robbie Rogers is coming out of
retirement to become the U.S.'s first openly gay male professional
soccer player.
The former U.S. Men's National Soccer
Team member who last played for the UK's Leeds United team came out
gay and announced his retirement from professional soccer in an
online post in February.
According to USA Today, Rogers
will be playing with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
He said he decided to return to soccer
last month after he spoke to a group of kids at the Nike Be True LGBT
Youth Forum in Portland.
“I seriously felt like a coward,”
Rogers said. “These kids are standing up for themselves and
changing the world, and I'm 25, I have a platform and a voice to be a
role model. How much of a coward was I to not step up the plate?”
In a CNN interview in March, he
described some of his reasons for leaving the sport.
“I felt like I couldn't play and come
out,” Rogers said. “I thought it would be too emotional for me,
it would be a circus. I just thought it would be very difficult, the
impact on the team with the media showing up every day. … I'm glad
I did it this way. I am happy.”
Today he says he's excited to come back
after coming out.
“It's awesome to be a part of a
movement that is changing our society,” Rogers told USA
Today.