Jaguars assistant strength and conditioning coach Kevin Maxen received an outpouring of support Thursday on social media after revealing he is what’s believed to be the first male coach in U.S. major professional sports to publicly come out as gay.
Maxen, who elaborated on his decision to come out in an interview with Outsports, published Thursday, was praised by many on Instagram, with some lauding him for being “brave and authentic.”
“Thank you for being brave and authentic! You will set an example for others. Stand strong! Your community supports you and has your back!” one user wrote in the comments of Maxen’s June 29 post.
Another posted, “Congratulations and a huge thank you!!” along with the hashtag, “Hero.”
“Congratulations!!! And thank you!! You have just had a huge positive impact on the lives of so many kids,” a separate fan posted.
Maxen, who has been involved in football for several years and joined the Jaguars in 2021, told Outsports how he wants “to be vocal in support of people living how they want to live.”
“I don’t want to feel like I have to think about it anymore,” said Maxen, who has been dating his boyfriend, Nick, for more than two years.
“I don’t want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing, or why I am living with someone else.
“I want to be vocal in support of people living how they want to live, but I also want to just live and not feel fear about how people will react.”
Last February, Maxen connected with linebacker Carl Nassib, who became the first active NFL player to come out as gay in 2021, as he navigated a path forward.
“For a while I had such an anger for myself and hatred that I thought was from a fear of what others might think about who I am,” Maxen told Outsports.
“But that wasn’t it. It was an anger and hatred of myself because I put myself in a life where I was living by other people’s rules and not by my own.”
Maxen added how he wanted to share more of his life with members of the Jaguars organization.
“You have other coaches who have significant others, and they’re talking about their significant others,” he said. “And I felt guilty that I couldn’t do the same thing, that I was letting myself down.
“I want the person I’m with to be able to share that with me.”
Shad Khan, the owner of the Jaguars, said in a statement to ESPN that Maxen “is a Jacksonville Jaguar through and through, and a key member of our football team and community.”
“I look forward to seeing Kevin next week at training camp, and hope that he comes to work each day during camp and through the season feeling confident, free and at peace. I know our players and staff feel the same,” Khan’s statement concluded.