Former NFL OL Roy Simmons has died from complications of pneumonia according to the Huffington Post. Simmons was drafted by the Giants in 1979 and played for three seasons with them, followed by one season with the Redskins. Several years after retiring Simmons admitted to being gay on the Phil Donahue Show, and then again in 2003 he revealed that he had been raped by a neighbor as a young boy.
In 2006, Simmons wrote an autobiography called Out of Bounds, where he describes the pressures of being gay in the NFL and having to conceal his sexuality. He also spoke of his struggles with drugs and alcohol. Prior to that in 2005, he appeared on televangelist Pat Robertson’s show to denounce homosexuality and said that he had become close with a pastor who showed him the path away from the gay lifestyle.
Needless to say, it seems that Simmons struggled with his identity and accepting himself in a time and environment that wasn’t necessarily open to the gay lifestyle. A friend of his, James Hester, was able to describe it best when he spoke to the New York Post.
“The rape and being closeted in the NFL really killed him. On top of that, drugs played a big role in his life. But when you’re a pioneer there’s no one else to follow. You’re out there on your own. No one stood up for him. He was smart, funny, polite and college educated. But he never really got the chance to feel worthy.”