Ryan O'Callaghan (original) (raw)

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American football player (born 1983)

American football player

Ryan O'Callaghan

refer to captionO'Callaghan with the Chiefs in 2010
No. 68, 75
Position: Offensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1983-07-19) July 19, 1983 (age 41)Susanville, California, U.S.
Height: 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight: 330 lb (150 kg)
Career information
High school: Enterprise (Redding, California)
College: California
NFL draft: 2006 / round: 5 / pick: 136
Career history
New England Patriots (2006–2008) Kansas City Chiefs (2009–2011)
Career highlights and awards
Morris Trophy (2005) 2× First-team All-Pac-10 (2004, 2005)
Career NFL statistics
Games played:51Games started:20Fumble recoveries:2**Stats at Pro Football Reference**

Ryan Thomas O'Callaghan (born July 19, 1983) is a former American football offensive tackle.[1] He played college football for the California Golden Bears and was selected by the New England Patriots in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL draft.[2][3] He also played for the Kansas City Chiefs.[4]

Professional career

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New England Patriots

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As a rookie, O'Callaghan started in his first NFL game against the Buffalo Bills in 2006 at right tackle.[5] He would go on to start six games in 2006, as well as a game in 2007, filling in for injured starter Nick Kaczur. O'Callaghan missed the entire 2008 season after being placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury on August 28. He was waived by the Patriots on September 5, 2009, during final cuts.

O'Callaghan was picked up off waivers by the Kansas City Chiefs on September 6, 2009, after being released by New England the previous day. He started 12 games that year. The Chiefs re-signed O'Callaghan on April 15, 2010.[6] He played in 11 games with one start.

While at the University of California, Ryan won the Morris Trophy,[7] which is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive lineman in the PAC 12 conference. On December 20, 2014, O'Callaghan was inducted into the Shasta County Sports Hall of Fame along with several other athletes from Shasta County, California, such as Max Burch, Sam Enochian, Jeff Foster, Ricky Ray, Megan Rapinoe, Eddie Wilson, and Mark Wilson.[8]

O'Callaghan was raised in Redding, California.[9] In June 2017, he came out as gay in an interview with Outsports.[10][11] He shared his struggle with self-acceptance and that he had convinced himself that no one would accept him as a gay man, reconciling that he would end his life when his football career had ended. The turning point was when he came out to the Chiefs' clinical psychologist, Susan Wilson, and then later to teammates and family, who were all supportive. He now speaks openly about his struggles and coming out.[12][13][14]

In 2019 his autobiography, My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life, was published.[15][16] He started the Ryan O'Callaghan Foundation, which provides scholarships to LGBT youth.[17][18]

  1. ^ Elman, Jake (January 15, 2021). "Ex-Patriots Offensive Lineman Ryan O'Callaghan Intended to End His Life After His NFL Career". Sportscasting | Pure Sports. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "2006 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  3. ^ "Behind the Scenes with T Ryan O'Callaghan". www.patriots.com. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "Ryan O'Callaghan Stats Summary". NFL.com. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  5. ^ "Q & A with OT Ryan O'Callaghan". www.patriots.com. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  6. ^ "NFL Football Transactions - National Football League - ESPN". Espn.go.com. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  7. ^ "Ryan O'Callaghan - Football Coach". California Golden Bears Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  8. ^ Induction Ceremony Events & Information Archived 2018-06-30 at the Wayback Machine, Shasta County Sports Hall Of Fame website
  9. ^ Hanson, Ethan. "Ryan O'Callaghan is comfortable in his own skin. And he doesn't want to talk football". Record Searchlight. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  10. ^ "Ryan O'Callaghan, former New England Patriots lineman, comes out as gay". The Guardian. June 20, 2017. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  11. ^ "How Ex-NFL Star Ryan O'Callaghan Found the Courage to Come Out". www.advocate.com. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  12. ^ Zeigler, Cyd (June 20, 2017). "Former Patriots and Chiefs tackle Ryan O'Callaghan comes out as gay". Outsports.
  13. ^ Peter, Josh (August 10, 2017). "'Life's great now' for Ryan O'Callaghan, the ex-NFL player who came out as gay". USA Today.
  14. ^ "How Ryan O'Callaghan's story of being gay in the NFL is helping to smash stereotypes". Sky Sports. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  15. ^ O'Callaghan, Ryan (2019). My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life. Akashic Books. ISBN 978-1-61775-758-7.
  16. ^ O'Callaghan, Ryan (2019). My Life on the Line: How the NFL Damn Near Killed Me and Ended Up Saving My Life. Akashic Books. ISBN 978-1-61775-759-4.
  17. ^ "How Ex-NFL Star Ryan O'Callaghan Found the Courage to Come Out". www.advocate.com. February 1, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  18. ^ Silverman, Robert (September 13, 2021). "The Ex-NFL Player Pushing for LGBTQ Acceptance in America's Toughest Sport". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 24, 2023.