Following a record-breaking career at Middle Tennessee State University, Alan Gendreau is hoping to land a job in the National Football League.
With the NFL Draft beginning on Thursday, Gendreau hopes his on-field accolades will be enough to attract a team into selecting him.
If he is selected, he'll have the chance to become the first openly gay professional football player.
Gendreau's career began at MTSU in 2008 as the first openly gay college football player.
As the team's place-kicker that season, the Orlando, Florida native connected on 10 of 14 field goals and converted all 32 point-after-touchdown attempts.
His sophomore campaign in 2009 was the finest season in his four-year college career. Gendreau nailed 18 of 22 field goals, converted 50 of 51 PAT's and totaled 104 points.
He suffered a drop in production during his final two seasons with the Blue Raiders, only able to convert 18 of 26 field goals including a dismal 8 of 14 on field goal tries in 2011.
Even through his struggles during his final two seasons with MTSU, Gendreau was able to set the all-time scoring mark in the Sun Belt Conference with 295 career points. According to Yahoo Sports, the 23-year-old also owns the second-longest field goal conversion in Conference history at 55 yards.
Moving forward after taking some time off from the game of football, Gendreau knows now is the time to fulfill his NFL dream and move forward without any regrets.
"I can't say I really tried to make it into the NFL," Gendreau said in an interview with Outsports.com. "Last year I did it half-assed. If I don't give it everything I have now, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."
While being accepted on the field as a football player as opposed to just being viewed as a gay man certainly helped the football confidence of Gendreau, the support of friends around his college campus made life even better.
"Everyone just saw him as a football player," State punter Josh Davis said in the interview with Outsports.com. He was just one of the guys. The fact that he proved himself on the field, there was a respect for him. He's a good guy."
Moving forward with his attempt to play in the NFL, Gendreau knows that joining a team boils down to one thing and one thing only.
"His sexual orientation is not going to matter one bit," agent Leigh Steinberg told United Press International. The only thing that matters is if he can put that ball between those goal posts. If he can do that, and if he can do it consistently, he'll have a shot at the NFL."
Alan Gendreau certainly will have a shot at playing in the NFL if he continues to improve his kicking game at various workouts.
The NFL Draft opens Thursday night in New York City and while he won't be selected early because kickers aren't a high priority position come draft day, Gendreau will certainly get looks around the league for potential selection in the later rounds or even through signing on with an organization as an un-drafted free agent.
Good luck Alan.
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