Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength coach Kevin Maxen came out as gay on Thursday in what is believed to be a first for a male coach in major U.S. professional sports.
Maxen, who has been with the Jaguars since 2021, told Outsports he made the decision to come out in hopes of inspiring others while being true to who he really is.
“I don’t want to feel like I have to think about it anymore,” Maxen told Outsports.
“I don’t want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing, or why I am living with someone else.”
“I want to be vocal in support of people living how they want to live, but I also want to just live and not feel fear about how people will react.”
Maxen has been involved in football for several years, playing for Division III Western Connecticut State University in college before working as a strength coach at Baylor and Vanderbilt.
The strength coach said that he had wrestled with his sexuality in college but is hopeful Jaguars players will react positively to the news.
Kevin Maxen came out as gay in an interview with Outsports. Jacksonville Jaguars
Maxen told Outsports his accomplishments inside of football should quiet the doubters.
“I have a pretty good sense of humor,” he said.
“So a lot of the guys I can joke with and not take anything personally.”
Maxen said he’s been with his boyfriend for two years. Kevin Maxen /Instagram
Maxen said that being around staff and players on the team led him to his decision to want to come out.
He saw others inside the organization introducing their families, and this made Maxen want to be able to do the same.
Maxen said he’s been dating his boyfriend, Nick, for over two years, and said he felt guilty that he couldn’t share that part of his life and struggled to reconcile those feelings.
Maxen played Division III football before being a strength coach at Baylor and Vanderbilt. Kevin Maxen /Instagram
In February 2022, Maxen reached out to Carl Nassib, who became the first NFL player to come out a year prior, as he decided on how and when to come out.
“For a while, I had such an anger for myself and hatred that I thought was from a fear of what others might think about who I am,” Maxen said.
“But that wasn’t it. It was an anger and hatred of myself because I put myself in a life where I was living by other people’s rules and not by my own.
Maxen said that being around staff and players on the team led him to his decision to want to come out. Kevin Maxen /Instagram
“And I was right to be angry at myself for thinking that I had to live in the image of anyone else.”
Jacksonville’s director of player development, Marcus Pollard, had positive things to say about Maxen.
“In an environment that is diversifying, it is a privilege to work alongside Kevin who is hardworking, dedicated, and thriving as a strength and conditioning coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Pollard told Outsports.
Training camp opens for Jaguars rookies on Friday, and the rest of the team will report on Tuesday.
Jacksonville is coming off a season in which it won the AFC South with a 9-8 record and defeated the Los Angeles Chargers in a memorable game in the wild-card round before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in the second round.
Jaguars strength coach Kevin Maxen comes out as gay
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