sport news MARTIN SAMUEL: Jake Daniels is a trailblazer, a man of vision and footballer of ... trends now
From here, Jake Daniels could be anything. He could play for England, he could end up in the reserves at Newport County. Wherever he goes, whatever he achieves, however, he will do it as his own man.
He will be free. He said as much on Monday. The weight that lifted from his shoulders as he told people who he was. The four goals against Accrington Stanley that clearly symbolise his release.
Daniels says he hopes to inspire others and, yesterday, he most surely did. His bravery in being the first out, gay, professional footballer in this country will matter. There may be a trickle, perhaps a torrent, but it is hard to imagine he will be alone for long.
Jake Daniels' bravery in being the first out, gay, pro footballer in this country will matter
And then he, and everybody, can get on with their lives, as people get on as gay doctors, gay journalists, gay lawyers, gay accountants, gay men and women on the factory floor, in the office, at the shops.
It won’t be special anymore, it won’t be a story. Daniels says he knew he was different when he was six. What could be more normal, more truthful, than the raw emotions of a six-year-old?
Yet whether he’s a super star or a super journeyman as a footballer, what he cannot be allowed to become from here is Jake Daniels, the Gay Footballer. With Monday's revelation there will be human interest in his story. We fascinate each other, that’s a species characteristic.
Daniels’ tale needed managing — and was handled extremely well — because it was plainly going to make him the centre of attention. That won’t subside for a while. The next time he plays there will be cameras, reporters, one hopes well-wishers, maybe the odd troll. Yet equally, there will be a time when he is just a footballer again, the way Sian Massey now just runs the line.
We will look back and recall when that was a big thing, gay footballers, and feel slightly embarrassed that our society made it that way.
Daniels must now return to being a normal teenager and focus on breaking into the first team
What it cannot be for this young man is a circus, with him in the ring. He can’t be the face of every campaign, the poster boy every time football wants to burnish its image. He has to go back to being a teenager trying to break into Blackpool’s first team. To being just Jake.
The impression was given yesterday that he is a 30-goal striker for a Championship club. He’s not. He’s a kid who has never started a first XI game for Blackpool and only came on as a substitute in the final match of the season, a 5-0 defeat to Peterborough. He did score 30 goals but in reserve and youth team matches.
He has spoken brilliantly so far but that doesn’t mean he is ready to be shot from a cannon into the world of celebrity. One of the reasons he came out was because a secret existence was causing mental health issues. No matter how well he is coming across now, there must be care, a lot of care.
Tom Daley is gay. Tom Daley is an Olympic gold medal winner. He’s not a gay Olympic gold medal winner. One does not inform the other. Just as the sexuality of all the straight male footballers — all bar one in this country, apparently — is not appended to their profiles as if significant.
