RIP Roy Simmons

[silverscreenselect]

Former offensive lineman in the late 70s and early 80s with the New York Giants and Washington Redskins (and before that, played in college at Georgia Tech). However, he is better known as the second ex-NFL player to publicly acknowledge being gay (although he also dated women) and the only one (to date) to admit being HIV-positive. Simmons was abused sexually as a child (and testified before Congress about his experience) and was heavily into drugs during his playing days, which he says led to his losing his position with the Giants. He returned one last season with the Redskins and played in the Super Bowl, although he admitted using cocaine the night before the game. Because of his size and likable nature, he was nicknamed "Sugar Bear."

After his time in the NFL, he worked odd jobs, including being a male prostitute in San Francisco for a while before finding religion and coming out on the Phil Donahue show in 1992, which came as a surprise to most of his ex-teammates and the NFL community. He later worked as a drug counselor.

Age 57.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/sport ... at-57.html