#24: Ryan Russell and Corey O’Brien
As you may or may not know, Ryan Russell is one of the very few openly gay men in the NFL. The defensive end, who’s currently a free agent, came out publicly in 2019, in a brave essay he wrote for ESPN. Around the same time, he shared that he was in a relationship with Corey O’Brien, and the two started their own YouTube channel, Corey & Russ, which currently has nearly 17,000 followers.
Russell shared that coming out publicly took a huge weight off his chest, and what made the experience so positive for him was the unexpected and invaluable support of his family, his friend, and his former NFL teammates. While he’s currently a free agent, if Russell were to sign with an NFL team, he’d be the only and first athlete in the four American major professional sports leagues that identifies as part of the LGBTQ community – which is a major step for the entire community.