Princeton University Offensive Lineman: "I'm Gay"

Princeton University participated in the first college football game ever played in 1869, and in 2015, the program continues to make history.

Junior offensive lineman Mason Darrow revealed to his teammates that he was gay in 2013, and on Tuesday, he is believed to have become the first openly gay active college football player.

Darrow told outsports.com on Tuesday that he’s known he was gay since he was in sixth or seventh grade, but it wasn’t until a teammate pressed him that he mustered up the courage to reveal his sexuality.

He said he felt trapped because he didn’t “fit the stereotype,” and he was afraid of the reaction he would get from his teammates, despite the positive reaction Michael Sam received when he announced he was gay.

His teammates were accepting of his sexuality, and when he told head coach Bob Surace over the summer, Surace said “Is that all? I thought you were injured or something.”

Surace told nj.com “Here at Princeton, if we can’t handle this and say, ‘we’re supportive of everybody no matter what their background, religion, race or sexual orientation,’ then we don’t have the right guys in the locker room.”

Teammate and fellow offensive lineman Jack Knight told ABC he knew Darrow for five or six months before he came out, and it was a “non-factor.”

Princeton opens the season Saturday at Lafayette. Darrow is expected to play, according to ABC.

The attached image of Mason Darrow was provided by Princeton University, Photo credit: Beverly Schaefer