Boyfriend of First Out College Football Player Tells His Team He’s Gay, Too

Hot couple alert: Outsports reports that Chandler Whitney, the boyfriend of Conner Martens, the first out college football player, has also come out of the closet. Here’s how the scene went down:

Last week when the baseball team gathered for the first practices of the new year, talk turned to stories from winter break. Because he’d spent much of the break with Mertens, Whitney felt the time was now. He stood up in front of the team, said he had contemplated whether to tell them a secret or not, and shared a “confession” he’d been holding back from them since they first met:

“I’m gay.”

The team broke into spontaneous applause. It took Whitney off-guard.

“Being where I am in eastern Washington, it’s not the response I expected. I’m in Walla Walla, there’s not a lot of open-mindedness on the surface.” …

While it wasn’t because of his boyfriend’s coming out story last week that he decided to take the plunge, he said it’s made it easier to explain his relationship.

“You know that college football player at Willamette who came out?” He asked his teammates last week. “I’m dating that guy.”

Warms your heart, huh? Chandler and Conner have been dating for six months.