Alan Gendreau

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Alan Gendreau
No. 38
PositionPlacekicker
Personal information
Born: (1989-05-27) May 27, 1989 (age 34)
Winter Park, Florida
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight182 lb (83 kg)
Career history
College
High schoolOrangewood Christian
(Maitland, Florida)
Career highlights and awards

Alan Scott Gendreau (born May 27, 1989)

openly gay to his teammates.[2][3][4] He ended his college career as the leading scorer in Sun Belt Conference
history.

Gendreau went to high school in

field goal
in Sun Belt Conference history and set multiple school placekicking records.

Early life

Gendreau grew up in Apopka, Florida in a deeply religious home.[1][4] A devout Christian, Gendreau has been openly gay since high school when he came out to his parents at the age of 16.[3][4] Afterwards, they placed him in church-based counseling that spanned four sessions.[4]

He attended Orangewood Christian High School in

soccer at Orangewood, twice earning Orlando Sentinel Player of the Year for soccer and setting the all area scoring record with 172 career goals.[6]

College career

Gendreau attended

Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). While his teammates, coaches, classmates, and friends knew of his sexual orientation, they made no mention of it to the media.[2] Otherwise, he could have been the first publicly out gay player in NCAA Division I college football.[3][4][a]

2008 season

In

gay-bashing.[9]

He hit four field goals in their 24–14 winning game against Maryland on September 6, 2008.[10] On October 1 in a nationally televised home game on ESPN2, the team rallied to score a game-tying touchdown against Florida Atlantic as time expired. Florida Atlantic called two consecutive timeouts in an attempt to disrupt Gendreau's concentration, but he made the game-winning extra point for a 14–13 Blue Raiders, and the fans subsequently stormed the field.[11][12] During the season, he made a then-school record eight consecutive field goals. The streak ended on a failed 46-yard attempt into the wind in the season finale at Louisiana. He was named to the Sun Belt All-Freshman team by both The Daily News Journal and Rivals.com.[1]

2009 season

Against the

Byrd Stadium in College Park, Maryland. They defeated Maryland for the second second-straight season, winning 32–31 in an exciting game that went back and forth. It was Middle Tennessee's first road victory over a BCS-conference opponent since 2005.[13] Gendreau's winning kick earned him the nickname, "Ice".[4][14] In a 37–21 win over North Texas, he scored 13 points including field goals from 20, 31, and 48 yards.[1][15]

Gendreau finished the season with school records for most field goals made (18), total points (104), and consecutive field goals made (12).[1] He was named to the All-Sun Belt first team by the league's coaches and media, as well as in separate all-conference teams by Phil Steele and Rivals.com.[1] He was also one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, presented to the top kicker in college football.[3]

2010 season

In his junior year in

Louisiana–Lafayette. The kick was the second longest in both conference and school history. Gendreau was named Sunbelt Conference's Special Teams Player of the Week, the second time he had earned the honor.[16] He was again named to the league's All-Sun Belt first team.[1]

2011 season

In his senior year in

holder Josh Davis said the blocks "weren't [Gendreau's] fault. It was a total breakdown in protection."[4] Overall, Gendreau missed four out of five field goals to start the season. Despite his strong second half, interest from the NFL waned.[3] He finished his college career with 295 points, the most in Sun Belt Conference history.[2]

Post-college career

Scouting reports leading up to the

NFL football player.[2][3] Outsports, a Web site specializing in gays and sports, released his story about being a gay football player on April 23, 2013.[2][3] "I'm a kicker that happens to be gay," Gendreau said. "It's a part of who I am, and not everything I am. I just want to be known as a normal kicker."[3]

"It's totally legit that he can get into the [NFL]," said

punter for the Minnesota Vikings.[4] Kluwe believed that place-kicking, which is limited to one specific skill set, allowed proficient kickers to be successful even if they had taken a break from the game for years.[4]

As of 2015, Gendreau is a flight attendant working for American Airlines.

He also has a Youtube channel created in 2012, with about 2,000 followers and a total viewership of about 140,000. The channel features his own renditions and covers of several famous songs, including Home by Michael Bublé.

See also

Notes

  1. Bloomsburg,[7] and publicly told his story in 2009.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Alan Gendreau Bio". goblueraiders.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e Watson, Graham (April 23, 2013). "Former Middle Tennessee kicker was openly gay with teammates, coaches". yahoo.com. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Branch, John (April 23, 2013). "A Potential Pioneer, Just Looking for a Job". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Zeigler, Cyd (April 23, 2013). "Coming out kicking: Openly gay former college kicker tries for the NFL". Outsports. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  5. ^ "Blue Raiders hold kicking scrimmage". goblueraiders.com. August 11, 2008. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  6. ^ a b Collings, Buddy (July 7, 2011). "Top 10 best area athletes of the past 10 years". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014.
  7. ^ Zeigler Jr., Cyd (April 27, 2009). "Former college football captain was openly gay". Outsports.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013.
  8. ^ Zeigler, Cyd (August 24, 2011). "Moment #43: Brian Sims tells his story nine years later". outsports.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013.
  9. ^ a b c Anderson, Eric (March 29, 2009). "Gay college football player fits in well on his team". OutSports. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
  10. ^ "Craddock, Middle Tennessee surprise Maryland". ESPN.com. Associated Press. September 6, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  11. ^ "Craddock's 32-yard TD pass as time expires lifts Middle Tennessee". ESPN.com. Associated Press. September 30, 2008. Archived from the original on October 3, 2008.
  12. ^ "FAU left stunned following 'Miracle in Murfreesboro'". goblueraiders.com. October 1, 2008. Archived from the original on April 25, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  13. ^ "Blue Raiders Crack Terrapin Shell For Second-Straight Year". GoBlueRaiders.com. September 19, 2009. Archived from the original on September 24, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  14. ^ "Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium – Attendance: 43,167". USA Today. Sports Network. September 19, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  15. ^ "Blue Raiders-Eagles Game Review". USA Today. Sports Network. October 14, 2009. Archived from the original on October 2, 2009.
  16. ^ Athletic Communications (September 27, 2010). "Lattimore, Gendreau earn player of week honors from SBC: Duo makes huge plays in victory over UL". GoBlueRaiders.com website. Archived from the original on October 2, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
  17. ^ "Caleb TerBush, blocked field goal give Purdue win in final minute". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 25, 2011.

External links

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