Former college footballer Jake Eldridge says stress of hiding his sexuality left him hospitalised
"My biggest fear wasn’t just people knowing - it was people knowing before I was ready,” Eldridge recalled
By Callum Wells
Former Division I college football player Jake Eldridge has said he left the sport after years of hiding his sexuality and experiencing severe stress-related health problems.
Eldridge, now 21, began playing American football after his family moved from California to Texas. He specialised as a long snapper and attended elite training camps across the US, eventually earning a place at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, a well-known pipeline to college football’s top programmes.
He said he knew he was gay from a young age but felt football took precedence over everything else. “But football became the thing that kind of pushed everything else aside,” he told People.
“My biggest fear wasn’t just people knowing – it was people knowing before I was ready” – Jake Eldridge on speculation about his sexuality
After graduating high school a semester early, Eldridge committed to Rutgers University, joining the Big Ten football programme as a freshman. While the move marked the fulfilment of a long-term ambition, he has said it also intensified pressure to remain closeted, particularly as speculation about his sexuality began circulating within the team.
“My roommate would come home and tell me people were asking if I was gay. My biggest fear wasn’t just people knowing – it was people knowing before I was ready,” he added.
Eldridge had already come out to his parents while at IMG Academy and has said they were supportive throughout. Within the football environment, however, he worried about the impact coming out could have on his scholarship and place on the team.
“I’d been saying for years, ‘This is making me sick.’ And then my body finally proved it” – Eldridge on the stress of being closeted
The demands of Division I football, he has said, left little space to manage stress. In November, near the end of his freshman season, Eldridge was hospitalised for three days with ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune condition. Doctors told him stress was likely a trigger.
“It was the stress of being closeted,” he said. “Going in every day and faking who I am for years on end. I’d been saying for years, ‘This is making me sick.’ And then my body finally proved it.”
Following the hospitalisation, Eldridge was offered the option to transfer or medically retire while keeping his scholarship. He chose to step away. “I didn’t hesitate,” he said. “I was done.”
He later relocated to New York City and, in 2024, publicly came out on National Coming Out Day. He says he hopes his experience encourages other athletes to prioritise their wellbeing and come out on their own terms.
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