Princeton OL Mason Darrow tells site he's gay

Princeton offensive lineman Mason Darrow is openly gay.

Darrow talked about his sexual orientation with OutSports.com in a piece published Tuesday. He's the only openly gay player at the division I level of college football. Princeton plays in the Football Championship Subdivision.

He first told teammate Caleb Slate in November of 2013. Slate was the first teammate he had told in any level of football.

The conversation happened after Darrow was struggling during a practice. He had contemplated avoiding it but it went much easier than he anticipated. From OutSports:

"If this is a girl issue," Slate said, "I'm going to be pissed."

Darrow looked around the room for an escape hatch. The moment of truth.

"Actually, it's kind of the opposite."

Slate was, understandably, confused. Huh?

"I'm gay."

Slate's cocked eyebrows turned into wide eyes.

"Wow, OK," Slate said. "Didn't see that coming."

After a few more words, Slate assured Darrow it would be OK. Then they did what any other teammates would do on a Thursday before a big game: They ate mozzarella sticks and sat down for some video games.

Darrow told his coach, Bob Surace, this summer. He called Surace in August and said he had something to tell him. Surace feared Darrow was hurt or wasn't going to be able to play in 2015 (Darrow tore his ACL in 2014). Darrow was being counted on to be a contributor on Princeton's offensive line.

His reaction when Darrow said he was gay?

"That's great," Surace told OutSports. "Geez, I thought you were injured."

Darrow said other teammates knew after he told Slate and their reactions were similar to Slate's. And he told Surace about his sexual orientation because he wanted to tell his story publicly and possibly help other athletes struggling with the same issues he did.

When former Missouri defensive end Michael Sam came out, the 2013 season was over and Sam was preparing for the NFL draft.

Surace wasn't fazed about any possible ramifications from Darrow's story becoming public. After Sam's revelation, much of the NFL draft talk surrounding him also (unfairly) came with the word "distractions" attached to it.

"Here at Princeton, if we can't handle this and say, 'we're supportive of everybody no matter what their background, religion, race or sexual orientation,' then we don't have the right guys in the locker room," Surace said.

"We're going to support Mason 100%."

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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