Dallas Cowboys Linebacker Jeff Rohrer Comes Out as Gay Marrying Long-term Partner

Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker, Jeff Rohrer, has not only come out as gay, he plans to marry his partner of two years, Joshua Ross, this Sunday, November 18.

The New York Times broke the news, noting that Rohrer will make history as the first NFL player -- either former or current -- to marry a man.

Of the course of six seasons with the Cowboys, Outsports reports, "He started 41 games for legendary coach Tom Landry, racking up 7.5 sacks and four fumble recoveries, all in his final four seasons."

"If I had told the Dallas Cowboys in the 1980s that I was gay, I would have been cut immediately," Rohrer told the Times. "It was a different world back then; people didn't want to hear that."

Still, he notes that there will be some fans who will "have a negative reaction to this." However, he's "fine with it."

Rohrer was deeply closeted before he met his fiance, Ross, a skin-care expert, at a bar in 2015.

"If not for Josh, I'd still be in there," the 59-year-old said.

Rohrer was previously married to a woman and has two children from that marriage. They divorced a decade ago.

"When I got divorced, I said the hell with it, I'm going to do what I've always wanted to do," Rohrer said. "Then I found Josh, and began to openly live the life I was born to live."

The former Cowboys linebacker follows in the footsteps of a handful of NFL players who came out years after retiring from the NFL, including Michael Sam, Dave Kopay, Esera Tuaolo, and Roy Simmons.