Mitch Eby, junior defensive end on the Chapman University Football team, has come out as gay.  In a recent interview with Outsports, Eby discusses his decision to announce his sexuality following communications with openly gay college athlete Conner Mertens:

For Eby, who had only ever come out to one other person, talking with Mertens was a revelation. The two kibitzed over football, Eby shared his fears about coming out and Mertens talked about his experience with telling his team. Mertens had chosen to have his Willamette team read a letter from him at a team meeting - without himself present.

Eby knew he wanted to tell his team himself, but there was some work to be done before that was possible.

Eby also discussed his internalized shame at being gay and what it meant to overcome that stigma:

A lot of people use the word ‘gay' with a negative connotation ... They say something is ‘gay' and most of the time it's in a very negative light. That made me feel like people have a negative association with somebody being gay. Comments from my friends, my teammates, coaches, everyone I know. Whether they realized it or not, it definitely had an impact on me.

...

Some of the people I thought would take it the worst have since been the friendliest to me ... More people have said ‘what's up' to me in passing and been even friendlier than ever before. Maybe they feel bad for what they said or did before, but whatever the reason they feel like they need to be nice to me, to show me that I'm still a part of the team.

Eby came out to his teammates with a heartfelt letter, in which he pleaded for respect from his fellow athletes.  The letter concluded with the words, "So how about some pizza?"

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Eby's friends unequivocally celebrated his reveal (with one teammate going so far as to declare Eby a "hero") and joyfully obliged his request for Italian comestibles.

Congrats Mitch!  We look forward to hearing more from you in the future!