Fresh off of an MLS Cup win and the release of his new book Coming Out to Play, the soccer star visited BuzzFeed to talk fashion, ping-pong, and more!
Macey J. Foronda / BuzzFeed
1. Even though he wrote a long public coming-out letter and now a book, he still considers one of his greatest weaknesses to be writing. "I have no confidence in myself as a writer," he said.
2. But he considers his greatest strength to be "the personal side of business" and building relationships. "I've learned that I'm OK at that."
3. The feeling of coming out to his family "was definitely better than anything I've had in my career."
4. But winning the MLS Cup earlier this month with the Los Angeles Galaxy was a career highlight and "felt like everything [was] coming together in life," Rogers said.
5. Rogers had won the championship with the Columbus Crew prior to coming out — in the same stadium, nonetheless — but this time, he said it was totally different. "I was able to celebrate, and cry, and laugh, and be happy with my family, and know exactly who I am, what I've gone through."
Macey J. Foronda / BuzzFeed
6. Before writing Coming Out to Play, Rogers said the longest thing he's ever written was a 10-page paper his freshman year at the University of Maryland.
7. His inspiration for writing the book was the reaction to his coming-out letter and "figuring out that I'm not the only gay person in the world, and a lot of people struggle with this stuff."
8. Writing the book was "like a breakup," Rogers said. "I learned a lot about myself while I was writing it ... you learn a lot of things."
9. The response has been the best part of writing. "Never in a million years did I think I was going to save someone's life by selfishly coming out to my family," Rogers said.
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