---
title: “It’s Not Just a Sports Thing for Me”
date: 2023-10-23T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/its-not-just-a-sports-thing-for-me"
section: Articles
---
# “It’s Not Just a Sports Thing for Me”

*October 23, 2023* — by [Alyssa Muir](/author/alyssa-muir)


> Former Soccer Star Robbie Rogers Returns to Celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month

*Hero F8 VHR St XAA Aq8 GP 1920x1080 — Maryland men's soccer Coach Sasho Cirovski (left) and former player Robbie Rogers hold a custom white jersey with a rainbow number 8 during Rogers' recent visit to campus. He was the first openly gay male athlete in a major North American professional sport and is now producer of a Showtime series, “Fellow Travelers,” premiering Oct. 27.*

There was no Pride Day when Robbie Rogers made his run to the 2005 national championship with the Maryland men’s soccer team.

Rogers, who went on to become the first openly gay male athlete in a major North American professional sport, recently returned to campus as part of Maryland Athletics’ [recognition](https://umterps.com/news/2023/10/10/maryland-made-we-see-you-we-hear-you) of LGBTQ+ History Month.


*Robbie Rogers in a Maryland jersey — Rogers as a Terps soccer player*



**Sidebar note:**

Rogers shared his coming-out journey as an LA Galaxy player with [Terp magazine](https://terp.umd.edu/confidence-game) in 2015. When his team won the national championship and visited the White House, then-President Barack Obama singled out Rogers, saying he had “inspired a whole lot of folks here and around the world, and we are proud of you.” [Read more](https://terp.umd.edu/confidence-game).





**Topics:** [Athletics](https://today.umd.edu/tags/athletics)


**Tags:** [Athletics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/athletics-tag), [LGBTQ](https://today.umd.edu/topic/lgbtq), [Men's Soccer](https://today.umd.edu/topic/mens-soccer), [Soccer](https://today.umd.edu/topic/soccer), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [Department of Intercollegiate Athletics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/department-intercollegiate-athletics)