Wildcats fortify chemistry around openly gay player
FRISCO, Texas — Scott Frantz didn’t plan on this.
Was it finally the right time?
He’d known since fifth grade and never told anyone. Now the Kansas State offensive lineman was about to tell all of his 100-plus teammates he was gay — before he told his parents, before he told his other friends and before he even proved himself on the field. He was just finishing his redshirt season.
“He was sitting in his chair and Scott’s a pretty religious guy and said he just felt God pushing him out of his chair,” Kansas state right tackle Dalton Risner recalled at Big 12 media days. “He said that day at that moment it just felt like the right spot and God put him in that position.”
Kansas State had brought a speaker into its playersonly meeting that winter. The speaker’s message: How often do you and your teammates — who call yourselves a family, consider yourself a brotherhood — actually ask “Hey man, what are you going through?”
A team reveal began. Guys shared home life struggles. Then it “escalated really, really quickly,” Risner said. It was 18 months later, on camera with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, that Frantz made the news public.
Frantz will be the first openly gay player to compete in the Big 12 when the Wildcats open their season on Sept. 2. He’ll join Arizona freshman defensive end MyKing Johnson as the first Power 5 college football players to do so, three years after Missouri’s Michael Sam came out ahead of the NFL draft.
Frantz told ESPN he was sharing his story to help other gay athletes. He declined to comment for this article and will next speak to the media at Kansas State’s media day Thursday.
“I spent my whole childhood hating myself because of who I was,” Frantz said in the video, released July 13. “I was angry I was (gay) and I was depressed at times. I want to share my message to tell other people in my spot that you can be loved, can be accepted, can be who you are. It’s just not a big deal anymore.”
That message echoed across Big 12 media days. Though Wildcats coach Bill Snyder acknowledged there was “uncertainty” before the announcement, Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury applauded the decision and players’ “openmindedness.” Texas coach Tom Herman said that Kansas State has fostered an environment all teams should strive to emulate, and a player coming out at Texas would be “just fine.”
Players are happy for Frantz, admiring his courage, hoping his move further encourages acceptance around the conference and country.
“I think more people need to have the same bravery he took,” Texas senior linebacker Naashon Hughes said. “I think that would help today’s society a whole lot more than where we’re at right now.”
Baylor offensive lineman Blake Blackmar agreed.
“What we’ve been moving toward as a school is everyone deserves to be treated equally and you respect everyone,” Blackmar said, “so good for him.”
Teammates think Frantz has set a precedent. Far from his announcement becoming a distraction, his decision to trust them instead enhanced the team’s chemistry, Kansas State tight end Dalton Valentine said.
“It was one of those things where Day 1, it’s like ‘OK, he told us,’ ” Valentine said. “And then Day 2, it was just a normal day.”
The announcement didn’t detract from field production: Frantz started all 13 games in 2016, the first KState left tackle to start his entire freshman season since 1988. In Kansas State’s bowl game win vs. Texas A&M, Frantz even drew praise around the country for shutting down defensive end Myles Garrett, who went on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft. Garrett had one tackle and no sacks.