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Openly gay kicker hopes for NFL spot

Posted at 2:20 PM, Apr 24, 2013
and last updated 2013-04-24 14:29:15-04

NEW YORK — Alan Gendreau, former kicker for Middle Tennessee State and an openly gay football player, is hoping to make it onto the NFL roster this year.

Gendreau played for Middle Tennessee State from 2008-2011, and was the all-time leading scorer in Sun Belt Conference history, according to CBS News.

The 23-year-old Apopka, Fla. native has been openly gay since he was 15 years old.

There are no openly gay football players currently playing in the NFL, however Gendreau hopes to be given the same chance as other prospects.

“I’m a kicker that happens to be gay,” he said in an interview with the New York Times. “It’s part of who I am, and not everything I am. I just want to be known as a normal kicker.”

It has been reported that numerous NFL players are expected to come out during the 2013 season. According to CBS, Gendreau hopes to be an inspiration to millions of people who are struggling to come out.

“My whole thing in this is just to help anybody who is struggling with coming out,” Gendreau told the New York Times. “I want people to know that I didn’t have a problem with it, and they shouldn’t either.”

Read more at CBSNewYork.com.