New York sports announcer Jared Max on Thursday announced to his radio audience that he is gay.
Max, a host at ESPN New York AM 1050 radio, preceded the revelation with a discussion of Phoenix Suns executive Rick Welts and former Villanova basketball star Will Sheridan, both of whom have come out earlier this week.
“Are we ready to have our sports information delivered by someone who is gay?” Max asked. “We’re going to find out. Because for the last 16 years, I’ve been living a free life among all my close friends and family. And I’ve been living behind what is a gargantuan size secret here in the sports world.
“I am gay,” Max said. […]
“I don’t share this news with you today to get a reaction or to make news, of being a New York sportscaster working on an all-sports radio station,” Max said. “I do this today because it seems to me there’s never been a better time.”
Max said that during his college years he suffered through depression and suicidal thoughts while keeping his secret. He said he came out to his mother when he was 21 years old, calling it the “worst night of my life, and also the best…”
He said he was inspired by Welts, Sheridan, and CNN anchor Don Lemon, for giving him the courage to come out.
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“I’m 37 — I think it’s time I’ve released myself from these self-imposed shackles that have kept me living in fear for too long.”
