K-State Football: Left tackle Scott Frantz comes out as gay

K-State football made headlines on Thursday when Scott Frantz, their offensive lineman, came out as a gay man. Holly Rowe of ESPN chatted with Frantz about his teammates reaction.

Kansas State hasn’t started playing football yet this season, but their squad is making headlines for a very different reason. Left tackle Scott Frantz has come out of the closet, which happened last year at a team building exercise last season. His interview with Holly Rowe of ESPN is linked above.

"“I came out to my teammates, and I’ve never felt so loved and so accepted ever in my life than when I did that,” Frantz told ESPN’s Holly Rowe on Wednesday. “And ever since then it’s been great. I’ve grown so much closer to my teammates since. So it’s been an amazing experience.”"

We’re beginning to see more and more of these stories circulate. Just last month, former Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Ryan O’Callaghan also came out and a few years before that, Michael Sam of the University of Missouri really made the news when he came out shortly before the NFL Draft took place.

It’s great to see that Kansas State accepted Frantz with open arms and that he can be himself now. It can be a very frightening experience for people to come out to those they care about, so to see that Frantz’s teammates were supportive and are behind him makes this an even greater story.

Frantz is a sophomore for K-State football and should become a great force on that Wildcat offensive line. This season should be a successful one for the Cats, as they still have a solid running attack, great blocking, and an incredible defense. Plus, Bill Snyder is still at the helm.

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Speaking of Bill Snyder, he too was incredibly supportive of Frantz’s courage.

"Snyder told Rowe that, if Frantz had told him he was gay during the recruiting process, it wouldn’t have affected his evaluation. Snyder also said he was confident that the Kansas State players would accept Frantz.“I was quite comfortable that they would be very receptive and that they would treat him as they always said,” Snyder told Rowe, “as, you know, his teammate and someone that they cared about. And they did.”"

While athletes coming out as gay is becoming more accepted in today’s society, these type of stories are going to continue to make the news cycles. It’s just the type of world we live in. Personally, I agree with Sam Mellinger of The Kansas City Star who said it best in a tweet sent on Thursday morning.

I’ve never been a football player, but I can only imagine how difficult it was for Scott Frantz to tell his teammates something so personal. Not everyone in today’s society is accepting of people who are “different”, but hopefully this is just another sign of how we really are getting closer to that mark.

Kansas State football tweeted out their support as well.

Proud to see the football team stand behind their guy and realize that we’re all people. We’re all in this crazy thing called life together and the sooner people realize that and start loving each other, the better off we’ll all be. #EMAW

Next: All-Time Leaders in Rushing Yards at K-State