Latest news with #JackBrennan
Daily Mail
02-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mail
Queer Cincinnati Bengals exec reveals why he kept secret closeted for decades during NFL career
The NFL didn't have any openly LGBTQ + players when Jack Brennan took a job with the Cincinnati Bengals ' media relations staff in 1994. But, as Brennan ascended up the department's depth chart before ultimately retiring in 2017, a few came out of the closet. There was Michael Sam, an openly gay linebacker who was drafted in 2014 but failed to make the 53-man rosters with the St. Louis Rams or Dallas Cowboys. Later came Carl Nassib, a Las Vegas Raiders defensive end, came out publicly in 2021. Others like offensive linemen Ryan O'Callaghan and Kwame Harris revealed their sexuality after retiring. Brennan, who describes himself as queer, falls into the latter group. An 'excellent human being,' according to legendary reporter Peter King, Brennan penned the upcoming autobiography, Football Sissy: A Cross-Dressing Memoir, which details the obstacles he and others have faced in a league environment that's often inhospitable to the LGBTQ+ community. 'I didn't come out until I left the NFL,' the native Texan and lifelong football fanatic told USA Today, 'so I guess I felt that way.' Brennan stressed to USA Today's Mike Freeman his belief that the NFL commissioner's office and the Bengals are both tolerant organizations. Regardless, the father of three and his wife were still nervous the league or team could learn about his crossdressing. Even if Bengals owner Mike Brown wouldn't fire him, players and coaches might feel uncomfortable working with Brennan, and that could result in him being reassigned. 'When I was working,' he told The Athletic in 2021, 'I was terribly afraid of people finding out, but it never crippled me enough to stop dressing. I'm obviously not as afraid now, but culture breeds self-shaming in queers. 'It's particularly hard to come out to male friends I've known for years in very heterosexist and traditionally male environments. The process is really only just beginning now.' Speaking to USA Today for Monday's piece, Brennan acknowledged his difficulties with the NFL environment. 'Sometimes people would make slurs or insensitive comments in the office, or in the locker room,' he said. Brennan was also concerned that his presence in the locker room could become a distraction. 'Would the Bengals think it was inappropriate for me to be walking around the locker room around players not always wearing clothes?' Brennan asked Freeman. But in coming out in the years since his retirement, Brennan now sees the process as cathartic. More importantly, he believes the act of being honest will help others do the same. 'I wanted to write something good and informative,' Brennan told USA Today. 'I also wanted to write something that would help people. I think one thing I wanted to say was if you're in the LGBTQ community, and you want to help other people in it, you can do so by coming out.' As for the current NFL, Brennan credits the league with incremental progress. Still, he's concerned the Trump Administration's efforts to erase protections for LGBTQ+ people, not to mention their visibility, could be adopted by the NFL's billionaire owners. 'I just hope the NFL doesn't,' Brennan said.
USA Today
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Opinion: Jack Brennan was closeted as Bengals PR head. He's out now and has a lot to say
Editor's note: This story is a part of a series by USA TODAY Sports called Project: June. We will publish at least one NFL-themed story every day throughout the month because fans know the league truly never sleeps. This story is also part of our Pride Month coverage. Jack Brennan was like a handful of powerful people in the NFL: He was a team PR person. In this case, for the Cincinnati Bengals. And as a PR person he was, in many ways, the front person for the team. If you wanted to talk to then coach Marvin Lewis one-on-one, you went through Brennan. Brennan was always professional, kind and did whatever he could to make your job easy. He was, in other words, a pro. He was also gay. The latter fact almost no one knew. Brennan kept it a secret throughout his 23-year Bengals career which ended in 2017. Brennan's story remains one of the most fascinating in recent league history because while the NFL and media has (understandably) focused on players coming out, there have been few team and league officials who have done the same. That's because, even in an NFL environment that is allegedly more acceptable now, it's been historically hindering to be LGBTQ+ in the NFL, either as a player or team official. When asked if he felt the NFL was an unwelcoming place to come out when he was with the Bengals, Brennan said during an interview with USA TODAY Sports: "I didn't come out until I left the NFL, so I guess I felt that way." There are many different types of heroes in what is the continuing battle for the LGBTQ+ community to keep its rights and protect itself. Brennan is one of those heroes. He wasn't vocal as the PR chief for the Bengals, but he's speaking out now, and Brennan has a lot to say. He does some of the talking in a new book Football Sissy: A Cross-Dressing Memoir from Belt Publishing which is scheduled to be released in September. The book is a striking piece of work. In many ways it's an historical document because Brennan gives you an inside look at a man who had a secret passion for wearing dresses while working for an extremely conservative league. Brennan didn't share his secret until he spoke with The Athletic in 2021. 'I feel like I want to become more genuine to people around me and not hide anymore. And maybe, I don't know, someone else will see this and it will help them,' Brennan told journalist Joe Posnanski then. "I wanted to write something good and informative," Brennan says now. "I also wanted to write something that would help people. I think one thing I wanted to say was if you're in the LGBTQ community, and you want to help other people in it, you can do so by coming out." One thing Brennan makes clear during our interview was how he felt the league office itself was tolerant of the LGBTQ+ community and for the most part, he said, so were the Bengals. However, Brennan explained that on occasion around the Bengals' complex: "Sometimes people would make slurs or insensitive comments in the office, or in the locker room." What concerned Brennan the most about possibly coming out while with the Bengals? That he would be reassigned. "Would the Bengals think it was inappropriate for me to be walking around the locker room," Brennan said during his interview with me, "around players not always wearing clothes?" Brennan believes the NFL is a better place now for the LGBTQ+ community than when he was with the Bengals. Not greatly better, he said, but better. There's just one thing that concerns him. Brennan explained he's watched as some institutions have buckled to pressure from the Trump administration which has been anti-LGBTQ. "I just hope the NFL doesn't," said Brennan. If the league has the bravery of Brennan, it won't.
