Jacksonville Jaguars assistant strength and conditioning coach Kevin Maxen has become the first male coach in major American men's professional sports to publicly come out as gay.

Maxen told Outsports.com that he made the decision because he didn't want to hide who he is any longer and to possibly inspire others in similar situations.

"I don't want to feel like I have to think about it anymore," Maxen said. "I don't want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing or why I am living with someone else.

"I want to be vocal in support of people living how they want to live, but I also want to just live and not feel fear about how people will react."