NFL Veteran R.K. Russell Vows To Break More Barriers For LGBTQ People With New Memoir

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August 18, 2022

By Curtis M. Wong, HuffPost

HuffPost caught a sneak peek at “The Yards Between Us: A Memoir of Life, Love and Football,” due out in 2023.

Russell’s memoir will be available spring 2023 (KWAKU ALSTON FOR FOURELEVEN AGENCY/ANDSCAPE BOOKS)

After three years of living publicly as his true self, Ryan “R.K.” Russell is ready to share more of his deeply personal story.

Russell, who played for the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, came out as bisexual in 2019. Though he was an NFL free agent at the time, his announcement nonetheless broke barriers given the lack of openly LGBTQ players in the “Big Four” professional sports leagues, which also include the NBA, the NHL and Major League Baseball.

The 30-year-old athlete reflects on his journey toward reclaiming the narrative around his sexuality in his forthcoming autobiography, “The Yards Between Us: A Memoir of Life, Love and Football.” HuffPost caught a sneak peek at the cover for the memoir, due out May 16, 2023, via ESPN’s Andscape Books.

“Coming out is just one moment,” Russell told HuffPost. “Though it’s a big one, there was so much I had to go through to get there and so much more life to live afterward. I wanted to write a memoir specifically because writing has saved me time and time again through depression, grief, injury and heartache. … It’s a humbling experience to reflect on where you came from.”

Head over to HuffPost to finish the article.

Russell is just one member of the Black queer community.

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