*Tegan Atwell’s Pride Game Presser.

[Jiggly_333]

June is Pride Month and all around the educated world, the LGBTQ+ community is celebrating acceptance. While many would point you to Pride Parades, there are also plenty of sports teams who celebrate Pride Nights. The NSFL is no exception, with the Orange County Otters specifically celebrating their Pride Night in this upcoming game against the Baltimore Hawks. They're a special team in this nature as they have the only active openly LGBT player in the league on their roster. Tegan Atwell, recently moving from Cornerback to Wide Receiver, has been having a breakout season and has sat down in front of the press to discuss questions involving anything with her performances and Pride Month.

Do you feel as if coming out has taken a weight off of your shoulders that has contributed to your success in the early going?

"Maybe. As I said then, it was pretty well known. All I had to do was explicitly say it. I think that it helped a lot with my transition to my new position as it kind of redirected attention from that. While everyone was discussing about what they felt this meant to them, I was able to quietly re-work the way I play my game. So, I wouldn't say it 'took a weight off my shoulders' as much as it was essentially some noise-cancelling headphones to allow me to focus in on my game. And I guess that the voice in the back of my head saying that I needed to finally say something is gone now, so that definitely was a big plus.
Final answer: Yes."

Is it true that if you don't use it, you lose it?

"The big question is whether or not you actually had it in the first place. And while there are some things that can be there for you later on, everything is technically finite. So I'd say that if you never use it, you will eventually lose it. Whether it be sooner or later, if you don't use it, it will be gone. On the other hand: If you use it when you don't need it or if you need it even more later on, is that truly 'using it'? Just something to think about."

Have your teammates embraced your announcement or do you still feel there is progress to be made in the locker room?

"There were a couple. Most of them were fine with it. A majority of them already knew. But there were a few who didn't, which I actually found it hilarious. It's already weird being the only woman currently in the league. I mean, Jassie J didn't really do much so there are still players who probably played against her who have forgotten that she even existed. But I think that honestly coming out to them made it easier for me to hang out in the locker room, seeing as they all knew with certainty that I wasn't interested in any of them. But almost all of them have been okay since the beginning. We did recently get a player who has been very apprehensive about it. We haven't really talked about it much, but I'm hoping we can work it out. I'm not going to be throwing his name around here so don't expect to come away with that story. For the most part, everyone's on board. All we want to do is win and so far it's all we've done."

[speculadora]

Do you feel as if coming out has taken a weight off of your shoulders that has contributed to your success in the early going?

[timeconsumer]

Is it true that if you don't use it, you lose it?

[speculadora]

Have your teammates embraced your announcement or do you still feel there is progress to be made in the locker room?