ESPN: Kansas State Football Player Scott Frantz Comes Out

Scott Frantz

Sophomore Kansas State offensive tackle Scott Frantz has come out as gay in an interview with ESPN.

"I came out to my teammates, and I've never felt so loved and so accepted ever in my life than when I did that," Frantz told ESPN's Holly Rowe on Wednesday. "And ever since then it's been great. I've grown so much closer to my teammates since. So it's been an amazing experience."

Frantz divulged his sexual orientation to his teammates after his redshirt season in 2015. Wildcats coach Bill Snyder had brought in a motivational speaker who encouraged the players to reveal details about themselves that they had never told anyone else before.

"So the very first time I said those words were in front of, you know, 110, 120 football guys," Frantz said. "So you can imagine how scared I was, how nervous I was. ... This could go either really bad or could go really good. And thankfully my teammates embraced me with open arms, and it was great."

The sophomore tackle said he knew he was gay in fifth grade but that it took until his junior year of high school to accept it. He said he didn't tell his family until a week after the locker room announcement and told Rowe he didn't discuss his sexual orientation with recruiters out of concern it would keep him from getting offers to play in college.

We'll see if this impacts Frantz' football career. Last season he started 13 games.

This fall, Frantz and Arizona freshman My-King Johnson will be the first openly gay active college football players in the 2017 season.

Watch Scott speak about his coming out below.