Robbie Rogers says he would love to see
more professional athletes come out gay.
In February, Rogers, 26, came out gay
and announced his retirement from professional soccer in an online
post. He came out of retirement last week, making him the U.S.'s
first active openly gay male professional athlete. Rogers received a
loud ovation from the stands as he took the field in his Los Angeles
Galaxy debut.
In an appearance on CBS This
Morning, Rogers said that he had felt that he had no one to turn to.
“I'd just keep it to myself. I had
that much fear that if I told people that maybe I wouldn't be able to
play the sport. That other people would find out without me being
able to tell them. So I wouldn't tell anyone, you know. … I had
so much fear that someone would find out. I was just really scared.”
When asked if he was encouraging others
to come out, Rogers
answered that “I would be a hypocrite if I pressured people
into coming out because it took me a while.”
“But I think that's what I would love
is that different athletes come out and they could reach middle
America, because they are the heroes, in Tennessee or in different
areas as basketball and football and baseball players. Soccer is
getting bigger, it's the biggest one in the world but not in the
United States, so my platform isn't as big as these guys. So, I'd
love that but I can't pressure them to do that.”