Conner Mertens
| Willamette Bearcats | |
|---|---|
| Position | Placekicker |
| Class |  Freshman |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | 1994 or 1995 (age 29–30) Kennewick, Washington |
| Career history | |
| High school | Southridge (Kennewick, Washington) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Conner Mertens (born 1994 or 1995) is an American football placekicker for the Willamette Bearcats.[1][2] He was the first active college football player to publicly come out about his sexuality; he came out as bisexual.[3][4]
Early life
Mertens grew up in Kennewick in Tri-Cities, Washington, where he was the youngest of four boys in his family. Growing up, he always excelled at sports.[5][6] He concentrated on athletics after an incident in fifth grade in which classmates teased him for remaining in costume and makeup after a drama competition.[7]
According to Mertens, the environment at
soccer team.[10]
College career
Mertens attended
bisexual, the first active college football player at any level to publicly come out.[6][12] With his announcement, he was banned from working with Young Life, which he had been certain would be a part of the rest of his life; the organization's "Faith and Conduct Policies" did not allow any LGBT person to be a staff member or volunteer, though they could participate as "recipients of ministry of God's grace and mercy as expressed in Jesus Christ."[6]
He became Willamette's kicker in 2014, when he also received limited opportunities as a
punter.[13]
Personal life
Mertens is featured in Out to Win, a documentary about LGBT participation in American sports.[14]
See also
References
- ^ Roemeling, Alisha (January 29, 2014). "Willamette football player comes out as bisexual". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
- ^ Reddish, David (2018-02-20). "Meet Connor Mertens, who kicked down barriers in college sports". Retrieved 2018-06-15.
- ^ Corcoran, Tully (January 28, 2014). "'I'm bisexual': Kicker becomes first CFB player to publicly come out publicly". FoxSports.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ "College football player Conner Mertens comes out". Outsports. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
- ^ The Conner Mertens Story. Fox Sports Live. Feb 9, 2014. Event occurs at 0:52. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Zeigler, Cyd (January 28, 2014). "Conner Mertens came out to his college football team. Now he comes out publicly". Outsports.com. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ Schnell, Lindsay (February 14, 2014). "Willamette's Conner Mertens talks about coming out as bisexual". SI.com. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ Landefeld, Bill (February 13, 2014). "Mertens Hopeful for Change in Sports Culture". The Pioneer. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ Anthony, Kevin (December 11, 2012). "Kennewick's Ramos is All-Area football player of the year". Tri-City Herald. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ Millikin, Jack (March 27, 2013). "Boys soccer: Mid-Columbia Conference rekindles rivalries". Tri-City Herald. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ Quick, Jason (January 28, 2014). "Kicking down barriers: Willamette's Conner Mertens says he is bisexual in hopes of ending stereotypes". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ a b "Active college player comes out". ESPN.com. January 29, 2014. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
- ^ Zeigler, Cyd (December 10, 2014). "Conner Mertens has triumphant first season as out college football player". Outsports.com. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- ^ Bella, Timothy (March 22, 2015). "Bisexual football player hopes sexuality will become 'nonissue' in NCAA". aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.