A gay professional hockey player in Europe has written a lengthy piece about his life and career for the hockey blog Puckbuddys. While he doesn’t reveal his true identity, he talks about the ups and downs of his career and living life in the closet. None of his teammates in Europe know he’s gay, but his college teammates knew, even before he told them:
It was a Saturday afternoon in September, one week before my 21st birthday. My friends and I had bought a keg and were having a blast outside on the green, playing games and enjoying the awesome weather. Well, after a few hours, and a few brews, four of my teammates came up to me and just flat out told me that they knew I was gay, and that they didn’t care one bit.
It was a Saturday afternoon in September, one week before my 21st birthday. My friends and I had bought a keg and were having a blast outside on the green, playing games and enjoying the awesome weather. Well, after a few hours, and a few brews, four of my teammates came up to me and just flat out told me that they knew I was gay, and that they didn’t care one bit.
I don’t know if it was because of the hours of drinking games, or the new found confidence I had from coming out to my family, or a combination of both, but for the first time in my life, I didn’t even try to argue with them. I just said, “Yup, you got me.” My friends immediately wrapped me up in a big bear hug, and they have been my four closest friends on earth ever since.
The player says he found the strength to play professional hockey thanks to the You Can Play project, and the guys at Puckbuddys say we’ll be hearing more from their mystery man in the future.
