Martin (l) is the first male athlete from any of the major U.S. leagues to come out as gay since '14GETTY IMAGES
Minnesota United MF COLLIN MARTIN ahead of the team's Pride Night celebration on Friday "publicly came out as gay," making him the "only out athlete currently playing" in one of the five major U.S. sports leagues, according to Megan Ryan of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Martin is the "first male athlete from any of those major leagues to say he is gay" since '14, when former NFLer MICHAEL SAM "came out ahead of the NFL draft." Former Galaxy F ROBBIE ROGERS was the "first openly gay man to compete in one the top five leagues after he came out" in February '13. Martin "informed the team of his plan" to come out publicly last Monday. Martin said, "I've been out with the team and with my teammates and the staff for over a year now." He added, "It was just trying to maybe get over that hump and to maybe see if I can just affect more people, because I think I've affected a lot of people in my daily life and around this locker room positively just by being myself." Ryan noted by the end of FC Dallas-Minnesota United on Friday, Martin's announcement had "60,000 likes and 13,000 retweets on Twitter." Martin, who did not play in the match, said that he "noticed the crowd yelling his name a bit more and was happy to have Dallas players come up to him and express support." United Owner BILL MCGUIRE said that he "wasn't worried at all about any negative business ramifications from Martin's announcement, calling it a 'human statement' not 'a political statement'" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 6/30).
APPLAUSE ALL AROUND: MLS Commissioner DON GARBER in a statement said, "We admire Collin's courage, and are proud of him and of the support from the soccer community." McGuire said upon hearing of Martin's plan, "This is the right thing." In St. Paul, Andy Greder noted as part of Pride Night, Minnesota United had many "festivities and displays of support to the gay communities." United "wore jerseys with rainbow-colored numbers" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 6/30).
