Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength coach Kevin Maxen revealed that he is gay on Thursday. Maxen made his announcement via an interview with Outsports.com
“I don’t want to feel like I have to think about it anymore,” Maxen told Outsports in an exclusive interview. “I don’t want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing, or why I am living with someone else.
“I want to be vocal in support of people living how they want to live, but I also want to just live and not feel fear about how people will react.”
One of the things I love most about Jaguars coach Kevin Maxen coming out is he's a strength coach.
For so long LGBTQ men have been painted as weak.
Kevin trains 300-pounders to be strong. And he was a 3-season captain of his college football team.https://t.co/XAT7VhO5MT
— Cyd Zeigler (@CydZeigler) July 21, 2023
Maxen is believed to be the first male coach in a major pro sport to publicly come out as gay.
Maxen played college football at Western Connecticut State. He had internships at the Army and the University of Iowa before taking jobs as strength coach at Vanderbilt and Baylor.
Maxen explained his decision to come 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.
“I want the person I’m with to be able to share that with me.”
Former Jaguar center Brandon Linder praised working with Maxen, who reached out to openly gay NFL player Carl Nassib in 2022.
Brandon Linder, a former center for the Jaguars, was effusive in his statement to Outsports about his former strength coach.
“… Our friendship grew with the time spent working together and us sharing a lot of similarities on our views of life, being someone that just gets it.
“It was truly an honor and extremely humbling when I was one of the first people Kevin confided to about his sexuality. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been, not knowing what my reaction would be. I remember the day he told me I was so elated for him to get that off his chest.”
Maxen told Outsports his life and upbringing helped him get to this point.
“As a Black Jew who has dated both men and women, who has been a strength coach at the highest level of professional football, I’ve learned that how I look, what I believe in, and especially who I am physically or emotionally attracted to should not impact the way I or other people view my worth.
“And It should certainly not dictate what I feel I am capable of accomplishing.”
Proud of you, Kevin! This took a lot of courage. You are loved and supported! https://t.co/Hp5tjOAw7B
— Amy Palcic (@amypalcic) July 20, 2023
