National Football League coach Kevin Maxen comes out and introduces his boyfriend to the world

Kevin Maxen, an associate strength coach with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, has come out.

In doing so, it’s understood Maxen’s made history as the first-ever publicly out male coach in major US men’s professional sports.

He has shared he’s coming out now, after a long journey of self-acceptance, to live his life openly without fear. 

“I don’t want to feel like I have to think about it anymore,” he 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.”

He shared he began questioning his sexuality in college. However, it’s only recently he realised he has the “right and responsibility to love and be loved”.

That discovery, he says, is with the “immense love and support of my family, my friends, colleagues and peers, and the courage and sacrifice from my partner.”

“I want the person I’m with to be able to share that with me.”

“Maybe sharing this will hopefully give someone else the strength to accept their own life.”

Maxen’s partner is his boyfriend, Nick, who he’s been dating for over two years.

Maxen works with the linemen of the Jaguars, specifically tailoring their workout plans and recovery schedules.

Ahead of coming out, Maxen contacted gay NFL player Carl Nassib in February 2022. He was seeking advice ahead of publicly coming out.

“You have other coaches who have significant others, and they’re talking about their significant others,” Maxen said. “And I felt guilty that I couldn’t do the same thing, that I was letting myself down.”

He also added: “I want the person I’m with to be able to share that with me.”

It seems Maxen is the first out professional male coach in major sports, but numerous women have come before him.

For example, former San Francisco 49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers. She became the first openly LGBT coach in the National Football League when she came out publicly as a lesbian in 2017.